I'd now like to hand the conference over to Dr. Gary Weiss, Chairman of Coast Entertainment Holdings Limited. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our presentation of the FY 2026 half-year results for Coast Entertainment Holdings Limited. My name is Gary Weiss, Chairman of Coast Entertainment, and I'm joined today by our Chief Executive Officer, Greg Yong, and our Chief Financial Officer, Jose de Sacadura. Turning to slide two, I'll begin with a brief overview of the group's key highlights for the period before handing over to Jose and Greg to take you through the financial results and operating performance in more detail. Turning to slide three. As outlined in our preliminary trading update to the market on 21 January, the group is pleased to report a solid performance for the half year end of 30 December 2025, reflecting strong momentum, which has continued to build from strategic investments and initiatives we have delivered over recent years.
It is worth noting up front that FY 2026 is a 53-week year, and as such, the statutory first half results reflect 27 weeks of trading, compared to 26 weeks in the prior corresponding period. While this additional week has contributed to the reported results, the underlying like-for-like performance across the business has been excellent, as Greg will talk to shortly. During the half-year, theme parks and attractions business delivered strong growth across all key metrics. Ticket sales increased by 47% on the prior period, visitation was up 44%, and operating revenue rose 30% to AUD 62.2 million, exceeding FY 2016 levels. Importantly, the rate of earnings growth significantly outpaced that of revenue.
Theme parks and attractions EBITDA, excluding specific items, increased to AUD 11.2 million, up 169% on the prior period, exceeding the full-year result for FY 2025. This highlights the operating leverage in the business as incremental revenue from high visitation falls increasingly through to the bottom line. At a consolidated level, EBITDA, excluding specific items, increased to AUD 8.7 million, up 368% over the prior period, and the group delivered a statutory net profit of AUD 3.2 million. As Jose will outline shortly, the prior period statutory result included material storm-related insurance proceeds, which are one-off in nature and should be considered when comparing year-on-year performance. We're also pleased to see continued strength in our balance sheet.
At the end of December, the group held AUD 37.6 million in cash, no drawn debt, and AUD 134 million of available tax losses. During the period, the group also renewed and increased its bank loan facility to AUD 20 million, and I can confirm that this facility remains fully undrawn to date. From an operational perspective, our new attractions, Rivertown and the recently opened King Claw, continue to resonate strongly with guests, driving higher attendances and repeat visitation, as well as strong engagement. Pleasingly, the positive performance trends of the first half have continued into the second half, with January continuing to see growth over the prior corresponding period, albeit at more moderate levels, as the group cycles a strong prior second half performance following the opening of Rivertown in December 2024.
Looking ahead, while we remain very positive on the underlying trajectory of the business, it is important to recognize that we are operating in an environment which continues to be challenging for many in the retail and discretionary spending sectors. That said, the group enters the second half with strong fundamentals and momentum, a compelling product offering, and a solid financial position. With that, I'll now hand over to Jose to take you through the group's financial results in more detail.
Thank you, Gary, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide four, I'll provide a brief overview of the group's consolidated financial performance for the first half of FY 2026. As Gary mentioned, the statutory results for first half 2026 reflect 27 weeks trading compared to 26 weeks in the prior period. My remarks will focus on the statutory results, with Greg later providing additional color on the like-for-like trading performance. As you can see in the numbers, the first half of FY 2026 saw the group deliver a solid trading performance, reflecting continued strong momentum from recently opened attractions, increased marketing and promotional activity, improving trading conditions, and of course, the additional week of trading. Operating revenue for the half increased 30.2% to AUD 62.2 million, driven by strong growth in ticket sales and visitation.
This revenue growth was achieved despite annual passes, again, making up a larger proportion of the sales mix. As a reminder, revenue recognition for these passes is spread over 12 months and has driven a 43% increase in deferred revenue balances in the period to almost AUD 22 million by the end of December. Theme parks and attractions, EBITDA, excluding specific items, increased to AUD 11.2 million, up 169% on the prior period, and meaningfully exceeded the group's full-year result for FY 2025 of AUD 8.8 million. This outcome reflects both the strength of top-line growth and the benefits of operating leverage as higher attendance is absorbed across the largely fixed cost base. Corporate costs reach a sustainable base in FY 2025, following several years of active cost reduction initiatives.
First half 2026 costs, excluding specific items, increased slightly to AUD 2.5 million, but remain significantly below historical levels. As you'd expect, management continues to apply a disciplined approach in managing these costs to help mitigate ongoing cost pressures. The group's EBITDA result was impacted by some unrealized and non-recurring specific items. Although not significant in first half 2026, these amounted to a AUD 5.2 million benefit in the prior period, mostly related to one-off insurance income arising from the FY 2024 summer storms. As Gary mentioned previously, this should be taken into consideration when comparing statutory results year-over-year. At a consolidated level, EBITDA, excluding specific items, increased by 368.2% to AUD 8.7 million, more than doubling the full year result for FY 2025 of AUD 4.1 million.
Below EBITDA, depreciation and amortization increased by AUD 1.1 million, reflecting a higher asset base following the significant capital investment of the last 12-18 months. Net interest income declined by about AUD 1 million due to lower average cash balances and a reduction in deposit rates compared to the prior period. As you can see at the bottom line, the group delivered a statutory net profit of AUD 3.2 million, marginally above last year. However, when we exclude the AUD 5.2 million of specific items benefiting last year's EBITDA result, which I just mentioned, this reveals a much larger improvement in underlying trading performance over the prior first half. I'll now turn to cash flows and capital management on slide five. The group continues to maintain a strong and flexible financial position.
As at 30th of December, the group held cash balances of AUD 37.6 million, an increase of AUD 3.7 million compared to the end of FY 2025. Importantly, the group generated positive cash inflows during the period, despite funding capital expenditure and share buyback activity, which I'll cover in a moment. Operating cash flows for the half were AUD 17.3 million, up AUD 13.4 million or over 300% over the prior period, reflecting stronger trading performance and higher annual pass sales, for which we received the cash upfront. Capital expenditure for the period total AUD 10.3 million, comprising approximately AUD 4 million of maintenance CapEx and AUD 6.3 million of development CapEx, largely related to the completion of King Claw, which opened in mid-December.
As you can see, cash flows relating to this investment were comfortably funded from operating cash flows during the period. The group also completed its second on-market share buyback, for which the final AUD 3.7 million was funded earlier in the half. As Gary mentioned earlier, in December, the group renewed and increased its bank loan facility to AUD 20 million. This facility remains fully undrawn to date and provides additional liquidity and funding flexibility for the group, should it be required. As always, the board continues to assess capital management options for the group's surplus cash, taking into account operating performance, future funding needs, and prevailing market conditions. Any decisions in this regard will be made with a view to maximizing long-term shareholder value. Turning to slide six.
As Gary mentioned earlier, the group starts the second half of the year with strong fundamentals and a solid financial position. At the 30th of December, the group holds cash of almost AUD 38 million, remains debt-free, and owns fully unencumbered real estate assets. Looking at the balance sheet, you'll see consolidated net assets of AUD 221 million at the end of the half. But this doesn't paint the full picture. Firstly, as Gary noted earlier, the group currently holds AUD 134 million in available tax losses, for which I can confirm no deferred tax asset is currently carried in the balance sheet. Additional to this, the group has a further AUD 47 million of tax-deductible temporary differences, which are also not reflected in the group's net asset value.
Together, these items represent a combined tax benefit of AUD 54.4 million, which remains off balance sheet. As I've outlined previously, these items continue to be of great value to the group, as despite the conservative accounting treatment, they remain available for the group's use by the group in future years. Secondly, as noted in previous presentations, the group's accounts currently record Dreamworld and SkyPoint assets at historic cost, net of accumulated depreciation and impairments. As a reminder, back in December 2023, SkyPoint was independently valued at AUD 37 million, almost AUD 27 million above its current book value. Since then, SkyPoint has grown its earnings by a further 30%.
Adjusting for these unrecognized tax assets and SkyPoint valuation uplift alone, shows an additional AUD 81 million of potential value over and above the net, the current net asset value, equating to a pro forma net asset position of around about AUD 302 million or AUD 0.78 per share. Note that these numbers do not include any additional benefit from the improved performance of SkyPoint since that last valuation in December 2023, nor the material upside, which potentially exists for the Dreamworld site. While we haven't had an independent valuation of Dreamworld conducted for many, for many years, it is instructive to know that in June 2016, almost ten years ago, the fair value of these assets was independently assessed at AUD 235 million, well above today's book value of AUD 194 million.
With continued momentum and growth in the business, the potential upside in valuation for these assets is clearly significant, especially when we add the further development and enhancements to the sites which are contemplated in our current DA application. In summary, the board and management recognize the potential value which exists for the group net-net assets well beyond what's reflected in the balance sheet, and we remain absolutely focused on driving business performance and initiatives to help unlock this value for shareholders. So with that, I'll now hand over to Greg to take you through the performance of our theme parks and attractions business.
Thanks, Jose. Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to present another strong financial first half performance from the theme park and attractions business in FY 2026, building on the momentum we saw in the second half of FY 2025, following the opening of Rivertown in December last year. Importantly, we delivered results that were well above the second half of FY 2025, and interestingly exceeded several FY 2016 benchmarks, which represented the group's previous peak. This performance reflects the underlying strength of the business, with further upside still to come, which I will discuss in more detail later in the presentation. Slide eight features our latest addition to Dreamworld, King Claw. Launched on the 12th of December, King Claw is a high-thrill attraction and the only Intamin Gyro Swing of its size in the Southern Hemisphere.
It replaces its predecessor, The Claw, which was already one of Dreamworld's most popular rides, and King Claw is 50% bigger, 50% faster, and significantly better in terms of the guest experience. The ride delivers up to 4.6 Gs of force, reaches speeds of over 98 km per hour, and swings riders 42 m into the air, creating all sorts of incredible sensations, very similar to a high-speed fighter jet maneuver and pushing the boundaries of what a thriller ride can deliver. King Claw was officially opened by our retiring engineering director, Adrian Summers, alongside some of our Australian directors, as well as the vice president of Intamin, our ride manufacturer. The launch generated significant mainstream and social media coverage, boosting positive brand exposure, and I'm pleased to say that the attraction was delivered again on time and on budget.
The early guest response has been very strong, and we believe the attraction was additive in driving increased new visitation and repeat visitation during the recent holiday period. With this addition, Dreamworld's ride and attraction portfolio is well positioned to continue to support visitation and engagement across a broad audience, from families through to thrill seekers. Turning to slide nine, and in September 2025, Dreamworld announced a strategic collaboration with Australian Geographic to boost brand awareness, strengthen Dreamworld's education business, and drive deeper guest engagement. This partnership launched Wild with Australian Geographic, a reimagined wildlife precinct featuring immersive experiences and habitats for native species. This collaboration introduces a powerful new brand aligned with one of Australia's most trusted environmental voices. Importantly, Wild reinforces Dreamworld's commitment to wildlife education, conservation, and the protection of Australia's biodiversity, while creating more meaningful and engaging guest experiences.
As part of this offering, Our Country, a touring 360-degree immersive experience previously showcased at the World Expo in Japan, has established its permanent home here at Dreamworld, creating a deep connection to land, water, and sky. Our rebooted Woolshed Theatre now delivers larger-scale, curriculum-aligned presentations, supporting continued growth in our school group visitation, which is a critical part of the business. Slide 10 highlights a series of activations and events hosted at Dreamworld and at SkyPoint, and I'd like to call out just a few examples. The Dreamworld Fun Run in August set another new record for participant numbers and raised significant funds for local charities. This really is an exceptional event, and if you haven't been and had the opportunity to experience it, you really should make the effort.
Also, during the Christmas period, we trialled extending our trading hours and introducing evening fireworks, giving guests something special to look forward to at the end of their day at our parks and trying to drive further duration of stay. These initiatives are key to deepening engagement with our pass holders, encouraging repeat visitation, extending length of stay, and building long-term loyalty and result in increased lifetime value. Our event focus remains on ensuring that there's always something new and engaging for our guests and their families, while continually enhancing the overall guest experience. With all the initiatives I've just outlined, along with the sustained investment and the effort that we've put into the park over the past few years, we saw very strong daily attendance in the first half of FY26.
In fact, we achieved a new record daily attendance during the recent holiday period, significantly exceeding the levels seen at the time of the Rivertown's launch in December last year, and higher than anything that we've got on record. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, and turning to slide 11, you can see exactly that. Despite having a very large car park here at the front of Dreamworld, it reached capacity, and on top of all our team parking off-site, we had to open adjacent overflow parking to accommodate the demand. In theme parks, we're always true believers of the car park barometer, and as a measure of how busy the parks are, I must say this is a very pleasing milestone. And on that same vein, on slide 12, we want to talk about our guest scores.
As you can see, our results remain strong, reflecting the successful rollout of new attractions over the past 24 months and our ongoing focus on the guest experience, even with materially higher daily attendance. As I often say, it's very easy to keep our guests happy when the park isn't full, but with markedly increased attendances, it becomes more challenging. Despite this, we've still achieved excellent GRI scores, and I'd like to take a moment to thank all of our team, including back-of-house staff, our executive and leadership teams, who were out on the ground during the recent peak holiday period, ensuring the very best possible guest experience. Also on the slide, you'll see some very positive guest reviews from December during the peak season, which validates our consistent focus on the strategic policy priorities over the past few years.
It's all about getting the basics right, delivering world-class attractions, and that's clearly starting to resonate with our visitors. Turning to slide 13, the business delivered strong growth in the first half, with multiple metrics now exceeding the first half 16 levels, reflecting the ongoing momentum from recently launched attractions and successful promotional initiatives. As Jose mentioned, this is a 53-week year, and therefore the first half includes an extra week compared to the prior reported numbers. To enable a meaningful and accurate comparison, I will speak directly to the like-for-like 27 weeks basis for both periods. The key highlights, Dreamworld ticket sales were up 38% like-for-like, exceeding the first half of FY 20 16 levels. The year-on-year growth was driven by increased sales across all ticket types and particularly strong momentum in the annual pass business.
Total attendances increased 32% like-for-like, driven by strong domestic demand, as, and as mentioned, a new record daily attendance achieved during the peak holiday period. Local market visitation has exceeded the first half, supported by a strong annual pass holder base, and this has delivered higher repeat visitation, with in-park spend now surpassing first half FY 2016 levels on both a revenue and a per capita basis. International visitation is recovering, albeit still well below historical levels, and while the international recovery for Australia is improving, Gold Coast inbound travel is still at 60% of the pre-COVID levels, and importantly, China visitation is still only at 22% of the pre-COVID levels.
Operating revenue reached AUD 62.2 million, up 21.8% on a like-for-like basis, exceeding the first half FY 2016 levels, despite a higher proportion of annual pass holders, where the revenue is recognized over 12 months. Strong annual pass sales resulted in a deferred revenue balance of AUD 21.8 million at 30 December 2025, up 42.8% compared to 24 December 2024, providing solid recurring revenues for the second half as these sales are progressively recognized. Total per capita was below the prior period on a like-for-like basis, partly due to increased repeat visitation and annual pass holder growth, which creates mathematical dilution, given guests typically visit immediately, but the ticking revenue is not seen until we recognize it over the course of the next 12 months.
EBITDA, excluding specific items of AUD 11.2 million, was the highest since first half 2016, up 107.7% like-for-like on the prior period. And I think an important stat is that the first half alone exceeded the full year result for FY 2025 of AUD 25.8 million. EBITDA margin improved 7.4 points, reflecting stronger operating leverage as we build scale. Overall, these results demonstrate continued improvement, with theme parks and attractions now delivering its seventh consecutive half year of positive earnings. Slide 14 shows the last 12-month performance to December 2025, which represents the first full year trading for Dreamworld since the opening of Rivertown in December last year, and demonstrates strong underlying growth despite some disruptions in the second half of last year as a result of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
While Rivertown represents the largest single investment in recent years, it is the culmination of several years of disciplined execution of the group's strategic priorities that is now translating into measurable momentum at Dreamworld. We are optimistic that the recent launch of King Claw will drive further momentum into the second half. As shown in the charts, Dreamworld ticket sales increased 28% on a LTM December 2025 basis, up from 10.5% six months ago at LTM June 2025. Dreamworld visitation grew 28%, up from 15% at June 2025. Importantly, with guest satisfaction scores still remaining strong. Dreamworld in-park revenue increased 23% compared to the 17% previously, and the active pass holder base increased 39% year-on-year, supporting a resilient and recurring revenue profile.
As I've mentioned previously, these metrics provide a more direct indicator of underlying business performance compared with revenue, which, as we talk about regularly, can be masked by annual pass revenue recognition timing. Pleasingly, New South Wales and Victoria markets continue to deliver steady growth, supported by increased inter-interstate marketing spends. And finally, as already discussed, the continued recovery of international markets remains a meaningful medium-term opportunity for the business. Slide 15 shows that positive momentum has continued into the second half. Despite cycling a strong comp following up the one-year anniversary of Rivertown's opening and an unfavorable timing impact from the 53-week year, with a one-week shift in the current period, January 2026 still delivered growth. To ensure a meaningful comparison, I will refer to a like-for-like performance when discussing year-to-date January results.
Year-to-date, Dreamworld and WhiteWater ticket sales were up 34% on the prior period, with year-to-date total divisional visitation up 28%, supported by the opening of King Claw in mid-December 2025, and continued growth in the annual pass holder base. Year-to-date revenue increased 22% compared to the prior period, exceeding year-to-date January to 2016. The deferred revenue balance in January 2026 remains solid, up 36% on the prior comparative period. Year-to-date, EBITDA, excluding specific items, was up 90% on a PCP basis, the highest since January 2016, and SkyPoint once again has delivered year-to-date revenue and EBITDA that is best on record. The performance to date suggests that our investment in new attractions and continued focus on safety and the guest experience are clearly resonating with our guests.
As always, current trading positions should not be taken as a guide to future performance, and that said, the second half will be cycling, as we've outlined, a comparative period that includes Rivertown, and as a result, it is reasonable to expect that some more moderated growth rates may occur over the first half. In addition to the above, we have also made the decision to close one of our iconic thrill rides, the Motocoaster. Motocoaster, which was launched back in 2007, has been a high-octane guests favorite for nearly two decades. Guests had their final chance to experience the ride on February 1, 2026, and management is currently evaluating strategic options following the ride's closure and will provide further updates on this in due course.
Going to slide 16, and in August, we announced a joint initiative with Network Ten and Endemol Shine Australia to host Big Brother at Dreamworld, including building a brand-new house on site. For many, this is nostalgic, as Big Brother was a critical part of Dreamworld's entertainment offering many years ago, reinforcing our legacy as a destination for tourism and for entertainment. The show premiered on the 9th of November and has since become Network Ten's biggest reality TV show since 2023 and its biggest ever show on streaming, captivating hard-to-reach younger demographics and delivering significant national exposure and enhancing Dreamworld's brand visibility. Our guests also had the opportunity to catch glimpses of the live filming and the new house during their visits, driving broader park visitation and engagement.
In addition, catering, merchandise sales and some post-production access to the Big Brother house provided new and incremental revenue streams. We're also excited to announce a landmark partnership with the Australian Olympic Committee, appointing Dreamworld as the official theme park partner of the Australian Olympic Team. Through this partnership, we will proudly support both the Australian teams at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, where we saw a fantastic result this morning, and the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games later this year. To mark the partnership, we will host a major media and stakeholder event at Dreamworld next week on the seventeenth of February, including a live Olympic watch party, bringing together athletes, partners and key stakeholders. Importantly, this partnership extends across Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and SkyPoint, creating opportunities for athlete engagement, community celebrations, and Olympic theme experiences across the group.
This collaboration not only reinforces more brand visibility for Dreamworld and engagement with key audiences, but demonstrates Dreamworld's commitment as Australia's largest theme park to supporting Australian sport and community initiatives. In slide 17, and as previously disclosed during our AGM, the Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning issued a statutory call-in notice regarding the Group's development application back on the 27th of October 2026. As a result, the Minister will now assess and determine the application in place of the local council. The statutory process is ongoing, and we expect the Minister's final decision prior to the end of this financial year.
As matters currently stand, the Group has not made any decisions or commitments regarding the proposed use of the land should the application be approved, and the Board will continue to assess all options to maximize shareholder value and will provide updates to the market as information becomes available. But before we open for questions, let me just try to pull all this together. While we are very pleased with the momentum, our focus remains on three things: firstly, protecting the core. Running this business well, each and every day, is the most important way we maintain this trajectory. Secondly, with sustained performance, we believe some of the unique pockets of value not reflected in our balance sheet can be realized, specifically the utilization of deferred tax assets and a more accurate reflection of asset values given the significant impairments booked post-2016.
And lastly, we are moving closer to a resolution unlocking the value of our land holdings, with a decision expected by the end of the financial year. The investment thesis remains straightforward. We have a profitable, debt-free business which is starting to now deliver significant operating leverage. We've got iconic assets carried well below fair value and significant unrecognized tax benefits. And we have a proven track record now of delivering capital projects on time and on budget, and we expect meaningful upside still to come from our international recovery. While we are pleased with the momentum, there is not one iota of complacency setting in here. We are still not at historical earnings, and that remains our clear goal. Our approach remains highly disciplined, our team is executing very well, and we are resolutely focused on continuing to build long-term value for shareholders.
That concludes the main part of our presentation, and I'll now open up the lines for questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two, and if you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Sami Hossain from Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
The presentation, guys. I've just got a couple questions. You've obviously had a great start to the year, probably partly cycling weaker weather last year, but how do you feel about the remaining months and in particular, the end of school holiday period?
Morning, Sami. Look, we're still very confident about the rest of this financial year. We have called out, and I think it's just reasonable to do so, that we're up against a more difficult comp. We had Rivertown in the numbers, and we're up against that because we, you know, we've got to now kind of cycle what is, you know, a much better product than what it was previously. So that's on our minds. As we've called out, there were, there was a one-off impact last year in relation to ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred. I think at the end of the day, the way that we think about that is it's really a negligible change.
Whilst we had a closure of the parks, there was some economic stimulus that the government or the local council assisted with, and at the end of the day, we kind of look at that and essentially net it off. So you're right, there is, you know, some weather last year, although there's some upside stimulus that kind of offset that. But overall, if I think about the destination, and how that's going, we still feel very positive about that. All the leading indicators that we're seeing in terms of aviation, in terms of hotels, are doing all the right things. There's no, you know, huge concerns on our end around that.
And again, I think what gives us some comfort is the work that we've done to really build the annual pass holder base really does support our momentum into the second half and beyond, and that's for a number of reasons. Certainly, there's just the clear opportunity as we reflect, recognizing more revenue as a result of a high deferred revenue balance. But I think as I've outlined on a number of occasions, the most important thing for us around annual pass holders is it creates a weather hedge to offset any risks around weather. But it also, really importantly in our minds, means that if we win in a annual pass in the local market, it really does help our further flung visitation.
If you think about it in this way, if you have VFR visitation coming from New Zealand and their friends and family here in the Gold Coast hold a Dreamworld annual pass, I think the likelihood or the propensity that those guests will visit Dreamworld versus other things on the Gold Coast is much higher. And so with all those things in mind, we still feel very positive about the second half. Your picture around the weather is noted, but we think it's largely offset.
Thank you. The cost base ticked up quite a bit in the first half. Do you feel that with the new areas and attractions launched, there may be a more fixed cost leverage moving forward?
Yeah, I think at the end of the day, it's natural that as we add new product, there's an incremental level of cost that comes with that, and I can assure you that we do everything we can to reduce that. Some of it is just, you know, there's a period of time in the numbers where we don't have the costs in. So, for example, during construction, we're not maintaining or gardening and looking after the common areas of some of these elements of the business. And we also make a saving on the prior period when we're not operating these attractions, and as they come online, there's certainly incremental costs as a result of that.
At the same time, you know, the thing that I'm particularly focused on is making sure that we retain a proprietorial approach to costs on an ongoing basis. And, you know, you've, you've heard us labor on about that now for several years, so I don't propose to go into that again. But it, I would say this is, as we build scale, we also see the importance of making sure that we, we have a culture that actually goes after revenue as well. And what I, what I often worry about is that we have a very, very tight cost culture outside of things like safety, and that can sometimes be, you know, incongruent as, as attendance comes on for us chasing revenue.
I think over the December and January holidays, we did a very good job of not letting that creep into our culture. You know, we invested additional labor and additional costs purely to try to drive incremental revenue, and I think we did just that. So, it remains a focus. We see it will moderate. There's no new significant attractions, you know, planned for the second half or the first half of next year. And as a result, we don't see, you know, significant upticks other than activity-based costs that come with additional attendance. And I think you know that we're very, very focused on making sure that those are very prudently managed.
Thank you very much. Last question is, can you also comment on how Dreamworld is valued in the NTA AUD 0.78 you quote? We understand that this is written down book value, but would there be any up-to-date valuation?
Yeah, I might hand over to Jose firstly to just give you the high level on that, and I can add some color if need be.
Yeah. Hi there. Yes, on slide six, the numbers that I've got there, obviously the NTA number of AUD 221 million is basically the book value that you see in the financial statements. The uplift that we've outlined for SkyPoint is based on a valuation that's three years ago. I did note that the EBITDA performance of that business has actually increased by 30% since then, so we could probably reasonably expect that it would be somewhat higher now. For Dreamworld, no, we haven't undertaken a valuation for a number of years, as I said in the remarks earlier. At the moment, as you know, we're going through a DA application process with the Minister. That whole process has the potential to materially change the valuation.
So at, you know, our present position is there'd probably be not much utility in going out and getting a valuation today because it's probably gonna change in six months. So we are engaging valuers, and we're starting discussions, and I. It is our intention to get updated valuations done, but we'd prefer to wait until we get the outcome of that DA process to firm up that position a bit better. But suffice to say, you know, when you look at 10-year-old valuation, that's still materially above where our current book value is today. Noting, of course, that the book value is the historical cost. It's what we paid for the assets and not what they're worth today, and also obviously net of impairments and depreciation, too.
Perfect. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Allan Franklin from Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Morning, Gary, Greg, Jose, appreciate your time. Just want a bit more detail on the attendance, please. It does look like you've been driving hard for market share and the locals audience is engaged, given the sort of parcel account. Any sort of anecdotes, please, in terms of the audience that you're drawing in, demographic discussion point there, do you have any data points in terms of how long you may have lost that audience? And obviously, I assume you're regaining them from competitors as opposed to being a new audience completely to your offer or to a theme park offer.
Morning, Allan, good question. So look, as we've outlined, a lot of it, to be fair, is coming from the local market, and we've reflected on, I think, all of the reasons why that's important. But it is fair to say, and I think I mentioned it earlier, that we have seen growth in all the markets, and we've been particularly pleased to see growth in the New South Wales and Victoria market after, you know, what has been a pretty torrid time post-COVID in terms of getting those markets back up to the Gold Coast. And so, that's come from a number of different reasons. We've, as I outlined, committed more marketing dollars in those interstate markets.
I think what I would say is that we've had potentially as an industry a really heavy focus on disintermediation when we think about how we sell tickets in the market. You know, I would say that potentially we went a little too far in that regard, and we've seen I think some really strong results from our ticketing partners in terms of growing some of those southern and further flung markets. Now, our approach will always be, if we can sell a ticket ourselves, we don't want anyone else to sell it for us and then share in the profit of that.
But where we think a partner can sell a ticket that we otherwise would not, or where we don't believe that the risk or the cost of acquisition makes sense for us to go after, well, then we really do believe that there's a place to be had for those ticketing partners. And so we've seen it across the board. Look, in terms of the demographics and who they are, look, we're still absolutely focused on the family segments, and if you look at all the work we've done over the last several years, it's been fundamentally around trying to drive family.
Now, King Claw, I recognize, is an outlier to that, and I've called out for a number of presentations now that King Claw was something that we are really happy to have done, but I'm not necessarily sure we would have done it if we didn't have some externalities that drove that decision around the age of the ride and how the odds were lowered as to how likely we were to be able to retain it in its current, well, in its former form. So, you know, King Claw has brought in a different, you know, segment in terms of thrill.
Our real approach here is to make sure that we have enough thrill to make sure that we don't give teenagers in the family group, you know, a reason to suggest that they would like to go elsewhere in other places, and we want the whole family to come and enjoy the park. You know, at times what we see is that parents stick with the younger kids, and then the teenagers go off and do their own thing. So, you know, it's important to have a breadth of attractions that cater to that. In terms of visitation of people coming back and also new visits, look, it's a bit of both.
There's absolutely, you know, a piece of work that we're doing here around trying to regain trust, get the business right, recover attendance, and then over time, improve margins. And so we have seen a lot of guests coming back to the park for the first time in a long time. And I can tell you that the ongoing mantra in the business over the last six or seven months has been, as we see, you know, what is pleasing in terms of higher attendances, we've got a job to do to make sure that as these people come back to the brand, they come back and have a really great experience. And there's nothing worse, I think, than having a guest that hasn't been for 12 or 13 years, coming back and having a terrible experience.
Again, that's why I'm so pleased with the guest service scores. You know, as I've outlined, very easy to look after guests on a quiet day. You know, I would say one thing is that if a difficult experience in the park on a quiet day, you don't have the same use the word vibe as you do on a busy day. But at the same time, as a guest, you can just walk on to every attraction, and it's a fantastic experience. When it's much busier, you know, there's usually a significant change in terms of, you know, guest sentiment.
What we've been very pleased to see is, as we've seen significant enhancements in attendance, we've not only maintained, but we've increased our guest satisfaction scores, and I think that's absolutely crucial to the story here.
Powerful. Yeah, obviously, thorough, thorough detail there. I was gonna put a question on pricing, but I might pause on that. Just with the rollercoaster, yeah, obviously pretty prominent location where that stands. Constantly, you touched on this a little bit already, but perhaps just reflecting on the attractions mix that you already have and, and the mix between sort of family and thrill, yeah, what - how should we be thinking about that sort of space and/or what might be, be missing in the offer at the moment?
I suppose that might tend towards a capital allocation question. So let me say this: we're not ready to talk about what we're looking to do in that area, other than to say that the comments that we've made in the past around the quantity of investment that we put into Rivertown is not on our minds to do in the next, you know, several years. There's absolutely a need for us to continue to invest into the theme park business going forward. If that's something that investors are not aware of, then they really should do the due diligence on that because this is a business that requires investment.
But at the same time, it's our, it's our responsibility to make sure that the investment that we're putting is prudent, and we can deliver returns as a result of that. And so, you know, for us, putting a lot of catch-up capital into the business over the last few years has really given us cause to pause for a moment and just really, you know, make sure that we can see the returns coming through from those investments, and we're starting to see that now. So with rollercoaster, we're just unfortunately not ready to say anything for competitive reasons just yet. It's certainly front of mind for management and the board, and as soon as we do have an announcement to make around what we're doing there, we'll certainly make it.
Okay. One last quick one. Gross margin dynamics, it looks like there's a couple of periods, about three, four periods worth of, with a decent trend there, and I think 85% margin is looking fairly steady and fairly firm, which is great. Any sort of comment on the gross margin or how we should think about that? And just as a secondary piece, I guess that sort of incremental drop-through was the best that we've seen in a little while, at sort of 50-ish%. Yeah, what do you sort of see as any sort of levers to improve that incremental drop-through, please?
Look, I think, and you heard us, as I mentioned, it wasn't that long ago, it feels like, anyway, to Jose and I, that we were talking about the road to breaking even, and now we're in a situation where we're starting to see some meaningful scale. And as scale comes on, you start to see this quite significant operating leverage, and cash generation that is typical of these kind of businesses. And as we've outlined in the past, one of the real challenges we had with what is a very fixed cost business is that, when we were struggling, really, for attendance and revenues, and I'm not just not suggesting by any stretch that we're happy with where we are yet.
We're still, you know, we've still got some ways to go. But we really did operate with what we coined as diseconomies of scale, where we just couldn't take the cost base much more lower than where it was. And we really did feel that as we grew revenue and attendance, that would start to generate this operating leverage we're seeing. Our view is that as we continue to see more scale, that will only get better and better. And it just comes across the board. We get increased purchasing power with our vendors. We have more optionality to drive some of our very high margin in park businesses. You know, to give you a very salient example, if you think about our Ride Express business, you know, it doesn't go very well when the parks aren't busy.
When the parks are busy, you see significant, you know, enhancement in performance there, and it's a very, very strong business in terms of the net margins that we generate from areas like that. You see that across the board in other areas of experiences that we do, things like cabanas, animal experiences, et cetera. They are all beneficiaries of increased scale. So our view is that as the business continues to scale up, we should see ongoing enhancements to operating leverage. And that would, you know, obviously support, you know, this margin expansion that we're looking at. The other thing I'd say is, you know, the ticketing situation over time, we do believe that we'll continue to look at opportunities to take price.
It's really about, for us, making sure, and I've said this in the past as well, it's about having the right strategy at the right time. And there's no secret at the moment, that it's a very difficult consumer market. If you look out there particularly in retail, and we're very studious of retail because we're a discretionary spending business as well, it's not easy for the consumer out there. And so for us, we're about trying to make sure that we meet the market around value, but also that over time, we continue to get real value for the investment that we put into the business. And so we expect that there'll be continuing efforts to expand margin over time. But really, I wanna stress the point that we wanna do that in a methodical and really considered way.
And I've called out where it can go wrong. I think the Six Flags experience in the U.S. is that very case where I think the thesis around we should be receiving significantly more for a ticket to the business has made sense, but the execution and the speed and rapidity of that execution really just caused all sorts of issues in that business and, you know, complete degradation in terms of revenue and thereby earnings. And so for us, yeah, we do see opportunity, but we're very keen to make sure it's a very considered and again, methodical approach to how we're gonna build that over time. Jose, did you wanna add anything more to that?
Yeah, just look, just a couple of comments when you, when you're looking at gross margin, just to in terms of the timing of the cost part of that versus the revenue part. Obviously, when you're selling goods in food and beverage retail in the park, the revenue and the costs are pretty much incurred at the same time, and so they match off. But as you know, with our entry revenue, a very large proportion now relates to annual passes, so there is a little bit of a lag there in terms of the revenue. You know, in the first month that somebody buys an annual pass, we're only recognizing one twelfth of that revenue.
So I think over time, you'd expect that, you know, when you start to see the full value of that annual pass come through over that 12-month period, that obviously then tends to sort of help gross margin as well as EBITDA margin a bit as well. Yeah.
Super helpful. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Thank you. The next question comes from Spencer Wright, from Kirby Wright Pty Ltd. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Great work once again. My first question is regarding WhiteWater World. Is it correct to infer that WhiteWater World did not generate positive EBITDA in the half? Was it close to breaking even, and do you see any potential growth in that business? Also, I think WhiteWater World turns 20 in December this year. Will there be a reduction in depreciation expense in FY 2027?
Okay, I might start off there. Morning, Spencer. So we don't provide granular performance on WhiteWater World versus Dreamworld independently of each other. What I can say is that we're very happy with the performance at WhiteWater World. Look, at the same time, we've been concerned about our operational performance at WhiteWater World and making sure that it's a good experience. Clearly, and the annual pass holder particularly, is a very, very strong waterpark visitor as well, and so we've spent a lot of effort and investment to try to make sure the guest experience is markedly improved at WhiteWater, and we've seen the benefits of that, both in the guest scores, but also, I think, in terms of, you know, stronger performance in terms of in-park spend.
As I outlined earlier, too, some of the areas of the business, particularly perform well when they scale up, and so we have a business called Slide Express at WhiteWater World, and that did particularly well over the holiday period, and I think we've, you know, managed to balance the guest experience there. Obviously, it's a difficult proposition at times when you've got people walking past other people in a line to get to the front. But we've, I think we've done a reasonably good job of managing that to ensure that we deliver a good guest experience, but also, you know, see stronger performance out of that business. So overall, we're happy with WhiteWater World, where it's going.
We've outlined that we're continuing to assess optionality around what we would do in terms of attractions at WhiteWater World. There's two things on our mind: One is lead time, and two is making sure that we look at the right product to do the right things for us there. And, you know, in the past, we've looked at attractions at WhiteWater World that I've stated publicly I was not convinced were the right things to put into that park at that point in time. And so at the moment, we've got a very diligent approach to how we think about new product, and we don't propose to change that. We wanna make sure that we get it right, and that's a very considered approach, very methodical approach with all aspects of the business.
We want to sell tickets, for sure, but we also wanna make sure that from a safety perspective, it's the right thing to do. We wanna make sure also that it does all the right things in terms of what we're trying to do in that park, and that's really about trying to increase capacity and throughput. And so there are two arms to that. One is, you know, potential new attractions, and two is making sure that the operating business that we have there, as it is today, is running, you know, the best it possibly can run. On the depreciation question, I might hand over to Jose.
Yeah. Hi, Spencer. Yeah, look, again, as per Greg's comments, we can't talk about WhiteWater World in isolation, but when we look at the theme park operation as a whole, we've actually spent a lot of capital over the last 24 months or so, which has increased the book value of the assets. So that sort of points to an increase in depreciation rather than a decrease. I think what we've added into Dreamworld will drive that depreciation expense upwards. The other thing that could also have a bearing on depreciation is around the value of the assets. So the Dreamworld assets, as I've mentioned, are shown at historic cost in the balance sheet, but net of impairment.
So, you know, several years ago, we had to write down those assets quite considerably, and as the performance of the business increases, there is the potential to reverse some of those impairments in the future. I'm not going to sort of speculate how much and when, but suffice to say that the current depreciation expense that you see in the profit and loss account reflects the current sort of lower impaired asset value of the business. So to the extent that we reverse impairments on the balance sheet, that could have a slightly sort of increased impact on depreciation.
Maybe just, because, Spencer, I really want to make sure that I'm not—we're certainly not trying to be evasive in our answers, and so let me just give you this, is that part of the reason we don't report Dreamworld and WhiteWater World independently is because we don't allocate costs in that, in that nature as well. So we, we, we don't charge, you know, central costs across those independent businesses. We look at them as one thing. But what I would say is this, if I was to speculate as to whether WhiteWater World was to be earnings accretive over the half, it absolutely would be. There's no doubt in my mind about that.
And I would say similarly, that's why we continue to have the view that operating the water park outside of, you know, these warmer months is actually, you know, a negative and impairment on earnings. And so our view is, we're running it in these operating windows for the right reasons. We think that's where we can demonstrate and create the most value, and we absolutely don't want to run it in times where we're just going to generate losses. And I think it's very hard to run a water park anywhere in Australia, to be frank with you, through winter, and for that water park to be washing its face. And so, maybe that will give you more color than we otherwise would have been able to give.
Yeah, thank you very much. You've also made some comments regarding the thrill market. The speech - I'm going back a bit of a way here. The speech in the 2002 AGM concerned that the number one reason people visited Dreamworld was the thrill rides, and Dreamworld subsequently significantly grew its thrill ride lineup with the billed Big Thrill ride campaign for well more than a decade. Do you see that as a segment, the thrill segment, as a potential upside for Dreamworld and future development? Is it too difficult to compete with Village on that front now? And is that why you're maybe a bit hesitant to go after that market that did so well for us?
No, I. Look, well, firstly, I, I haven't had a look at the 2002 annual report or the remarks of late, but I can tell you that we do do a lot of soul-searching and looking back at the more halcyon periods prior to 2016. And we certainly have looked at the period maybe not that far back, but kind of in that intervening period around how much of a draw the thrill market was to the park. And certainly, there were elements of the advertising campaigns around Big Nine and other things like that, that were very strong in market.
But when we look at the evidence and we look at the feedback that we were seeing in our guest sentiment, surveys and things like that back in those days, and moreover, to give you a bit of insight, we actually had interviews and discussions with management at those times. Their view was that, "Look, we really did sell the dream on, on thrill, but it wasn't actually central to what we were seeing in terms of attendance." And not only is that the feedback we've received anecdotally, from management back then and from what we've seen in terms of, survey results, but when we look at as new attractions were implemented and the resultant, changes in attendance, it appears to us that it wasn't as, as significant as what it was before.
Now, all I would say to you is this, as we think about the mix of attractions that we put into the property, we're looking at a whole range of different elements. We're certainly looking at the local market. In my mind, it's completely, you know, unreasonable to go and put something into our parks that someone else already has, and so you won't ever see us do anything like that. We're also looking at the existing mix of our park and what we've got, and we're looking at that, you know, in terms of, you know, one of the fundamental things we're looking at is in terms of rider height and the type of attraction we would have, where we think we've got a gap in our ride line up.
And we're also looking at what the broader market is doing, you know, internationally as well. I think that's not, you know, be all and end all, but it's also important for us to keep an eye on, you know, what different groups are doing around the world, and then also what feedback we get from our vendors as well. So I don't want to suggest in any way that we're not looking at thrill as part of our future, or not. We've certainly been very focused on family, and that is a big part of what we're looking to do. But I don't want to suggest to you that we are or are not in that business going forward.
I do think that if we choose to be, we will be competitive, and we'll give it a red-hot go wherever we go. But at this point in time, we're very open-minded, and we don't want to make any firm commitments. We want to do the work and make sure that the next significant attraction that we do, which is still, you know, some time away, is the right thing at the right time for our business.
Thanks. In relation to deferred revenue, that was up quite a bit. That's good to see. When you sell vouchers, like a AUD 50 voucher with your annual passes, are those vouchers treated as deferred revenue as well, or are they recognized differently? And if a guest redeems a voucher and you incur cost of goods sold, is there a recognition of that part of revenue immediately, or is that also deferred and we incur costs, but not necessarily the full revenue benefit?
Yeah, let me start with that, and then, Jose, I'll give you the technical response to that as well. But the answer is, it depends on the duration in which the voucher has been given in terms of its expiry date. So if a voucher was released today, and it was due to expire by the end of June, will it be recognized within that period? If it was a 12-month voucher from now through to the end of, you know, February next year, well, then certainly we would recognize the value of that voucher over that period of time. Jose, did you want to add more to that?
Yeah, yeah, sure. So, you know, at the point, yeah, taking an example of selling an annual pass, for, for example, with a AUD 50 F&B voucher, we would normally split out the value of that F&B voucher from, from the, the entry component of the pass. But both of those are, you know, on day one, are, are both put into deferred revenue. As, and, and the, the entry component is, is gradually recognized over the 12-month period. The AUD 50 food and beverage voucher component in, in my example, would be used as that voucher is used in parks.
So, the revenue would, when somebody turns up and wants to buy food with it, that portion of revenue that they spend on the voucher will then, at that point in time, be recognized as revenue, and obviously, the cost of goods sold will be recognized at the same time. So there is a direct match in that respect. But as Greg mentioned, you know, often when we sell these, or give these vouchers as part of a package, they do have an expiry date.
So to the extent that we get to the end of a validity period of a voucher, if there are unused components remaining in deferred income, which people haven't used within park, at that point, then we would recognize those as revenue because they, as you know, under the accounting standards, you know, we don't have anything further to deliver. We. They've expired, and we can recognize the unused portion.
Essentially, it's about the performance obligation. And let me just go straight to a, I'm sure a follow-up question is, well, what does that look like? Well, I can tell you this, is that we wanna make sure guests get the value out of their vouchers, and so we do everything we can to communicate with guests that their voucher is coming up to a close, and we do everything we can to try to get them to use their vouchers and get the value. In our mind, there's no benefit to seeing breakage.
We wanna see people get every ounce of value because, again, as we've called out, we're about lifetime relationships with our guests and lifetime value, and it's very clear that the propensity for people to renew and stay in our ecosystem is really fundamentally driven by the amount of time that they come back and have a good experience at the park.
Thank you. Sorry, one more. When we've got a large deferred revenue, as I said before, and you've said, how do annual pass holders behave compared to one-off visitors in park? I mean, do they spend a little bit less, you know, every time they visit, because it's not a one-off? I mean, what's the frequency? You might not want to tell me that, but can you tell me a little bit more about that to see what that value of that really high deferred revenue is?
Great question. And to Jose's point, really, it's what you're seeing in Deferred Revenue there is almost all ticketing revenues, not a lot, I think, there in terms of, you know, commercial vouchers. Let me go to your question around typical behavior of annual pass holders. And this is an area I think that we're really at pains to talk about because there is a heuristic, and I think it's a fallacy, to be frank with you, that a visitor from New South Wales or Victoria, you know, is more valuable to us than an annual pass holder because they spend more in park.
My perception on that is that's, you know, potentially true if you were to use accounting and look at the, you know, per capita spend per visit, because I've got a New South Wales or Victorian visitor that comes here for one day, and they spend X amount in food and retail or games, and there's our number. And if I've got an annual pass holder that visits on a number of occasions, and that can be anywhere from they've come once to they've come close to 10 times, incrementally, every time they visit, if you aggregate that spend, it is higher than what you get out of a single visit from a New South Wales or a Victorian or other far-flung guest.
For us, we think about it around net revenue that we get out of an annual pass holder. For us, independently on each individual visit, it is a lower per cap, but if you take the net revenue that we receive off an annual pass holder over the course of their pass, it is significantly higher than what it is out of a single visit from a one-day or even a multi-day pass guest.
In terms of, you know, the trends and how they typically spend, and I would say this is a typical thing, you know, it does differ, but our approach to it and what we see usually is that people come in early in the life cycle of their pass, and they spend reasonably well. It's novel, it's new, and they're looking to really, you know, have a good experience. As they come more often through the middle parts of their pass, their spending isn't as high as what it was at the start because they're looking to, you know, they'll get an ice cream, they might get some confectionery for the kids, but they're probably not looking to get that T-shirt or that plush toy that they initially got at the start.
Then, as we see people approach the end of their pass, we see an uptick in spending again, as they look to potentially close out their pass. Our focus is making sure that they stay with us and they renew. We've talked about that, and I'm not going to go into the fine detail as to the renewal numbers. Suffice to say that our renewal performance today is materially better than what it was three or four years ago. So for us, we're looking at all sorts of levers to drive propensity to revisit and propensity for them to stay with us. And sometimes that means that we're using levers within our commercial business, so food and retail, to drive those extra visits. And that's not something that's unusual.
I think it's pretty common, I think, in mainstream retail, and we're trying to take some of that thinking into what we're doing in the theme park business as well.
Thanks. Can I just ask a clarifying question on that, or maybe a further question on that? If, if you—I can't remember the exact number, but if it's 20 million or 22 million, whatever it is, would you—of services, 'cause that's your ticket or, or your ticket price, I mean, they might get express passes, perhaps, but would you expect that to double? Is it, is, is AUD 20 million worth AUD 40 million in revenue over a 12-month period, AUD 50 million, AUD 30 million? What, what would you sort of. How can you, how can you explain that to me?
I think the answer is, we can't, we don't really provide that kind of guidance. I can just say to you at a very high level, we see the value of an annual pass holder, and I think I've kind of expressed this as material. I've been in organizations, and I've heard from other organizations, not just in Australia, but internationally, where they say that, you know, an annual pass holder is almost a bit of a trouble for the business. You know, they come in, they wreck the joint and all this kind of stuff. We have a very different view. We love annual pass holders. They're a critical component to what we do. And that's not just because we've got warm feelings about them, because they are absolutely accretive to earnings.
And I've kind of outlined why that is. Around the weather hedge, I've outlined, I think, why it's important for us in terms of what they do around VFR guests that come to the Gold Coast. If someone in the family's already got a Dreamworld pass, that, I think they're much more likely to stay with us. So for all those reasons, Spencer, we think that it's a critical part of what we do. I just, I just can't give you a number as to, you know, what do we think the spend would be as a result of what the deferred revenue balance is. We, we just don't really go into that kind of detail.
No, you've been very kind.
Thank you. Your last question comes from Nick McGarrigle, from Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Thanks for taking all those questions, and I, I don't know if this has been covered, but, I'm looking at the trading update for the January financial year to date, and to reconcile the growth rates that you had in the first half versus the year to date, which presumably is to the end of January, does it imply that attendance was down year-on-year in the month of January by itself, and maybe revenue was, you know, only modestly up on last year? Just trying to get a handle on that, and then kind of dive into, you know, the reasoning.
I can say to you that's not the case. Jose might give you a bit more color there, but certainly attendance wasn't down, and nor was revenue in January. Jose, did you want to go into that in any more detail?
Yeah, only to say that there's obviously the first half, as we mentioned, is a 27-week half. At week 27 is the week, so last half-year end was ended on the 24th of December. That additional week is probably one of the busiest weeks of the year between Christmas and New Year. That has shifted. Last year was in the month of January, but this year is in the month of December, so there is a bit of a timing shift. But no, you know, in answer to your question about January, is attendance down yet? You know, the short answer is no.
If you, if you're trying to compare the year-to-date performance for January versus the year-to-date performance for December, I think probably the best way to do that would be to look at the like-for-like numbers rather than the statutory numbers, because that is comparing 32 weeks up to the end of January this year versus 32 weeks, rather than what we reported last year as 31 weeks. So it is purely like-for-like. I think that would be much better, and you'll see that the percentages, when you compare it on a like-for-like basis, are a lot closer, albeit that they are slightly lower on the December, sorry, on the January year to date.
As we mentioned, we're cycling the opening of Rivertown, and we do expect some of those growth rates to moderate a little bit in the second half.
Okay. No, that's, yeah, the weeks, I guess, make a week at that, particularly the week in question makes quite a big difference. And then just in terms of where you're at in the cost base, obviously there'd be some increases related to supporting some of the new attractions and areas. This question may have been answered, but just around fixed cost leverage moving forward, do you feel like the cost base is kind of set to the point that it needs to be, and from here it's really the variable is peak seasons and, and cost of goods sold on yeah, in park spend?
Look, I think the trouble with it, I don't wanna give you any guidance, but I would say this, is that, as we've added new attractions, that brings new activity, and incremental activity, regardless of whether those attractions work or not. And so that's just, you know, part of the challenge of running these kind of businesses. The activity-based, incremental spends that we see are, in our minds, the right things to do to try to chase new revenue. And the other thing that I would say that you can probably sense in our numbers here is that, there's a degree of us spending more in the marketing space.
that really is, and I kind of talked about this in the past as well, is to say, look, I've been hesitant to want to commit more marketing in the past because I just didn't feel that we had a product that was worthy of committing significantly more marketing than what we had in the past. We've got a different view today, and that doesn't mean that we're out there just blazing away. Far from it. But what it does say for us is that we're looking very, very closely at our performance metrics in the marketing space. And if we can commit more marketing dollars but demonstrate, you know, strong ROAS as a result, then we're looking to do that.
And so we're constantly testing to see what else is out there, in terms of upside opportunity. So it's one of the things that I would say the only area that I would say that we're particularly potentially adding more costs is marketing. But I just wanna really stress the point. That's not a. It's not about kind of grand brand campaigns. It's not about, you know, engaging crazily expensive influencers or anything like that. It's absolutely performance-based additions in spend, and if we see that they work, we wanna go after them and commit more. If we're not seeing performance, then we absolutely retreat and look to redeploy assets elsewhere. So hopefully that helps you a little bit, in terms of how we're thinking about cost.
Yeah, that's helpful. I guess I'm just trying to map, you know, you've printed pretty, obviously, kinda record levels of revenue. EBITDA is still catching up, but it's kind of, there's some cost inflation from 2016, 10 years later, a lot of things cost more. But potentially you're also spending a bit more on marketing to drive admissions and some of the Rev PAX gains that we've had in the last few years, you've given up with discounting on pass prices.
Yeah. I think the other thing I'd say is that, your point's made about... I think it's, you know, there's absolutely some inflationary changes in the cost base compared to 2016, just more generally, but also the cost of compliance is materially different to what it was back in 2016, for all the right reasons. I would say this, is that, that's moderating now, and I can tell you that we've seen some quite significant increases in costs around the safety and engineering space over the last eight or nine years, particularly.
Well, the last thing I think any holder would want to hear is that we're starting to take that away, but I would say this is that those costs are moderating, and so we're starting to find, I think, what is a reasonable level there. And a lot of the work that we've been doing in terms of upgrading new attractions around safety systems and things like that, that is starting to come towards you know a close, and we don't expect the same kind of level of investment intensity in those areas going forward. But again, it's a big site or they are big sites, water park included, complex, and typically there's you know complex and quite significant assets here.
And if we have a particular issue with one asset, well, then that may necessitate quite a lumpy spend to try to look after it. And so, probably just a little bit more color to help you with it as well.
Great. All right. Thank you.
Thank you. That does conclude our time for questions, and that does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.