Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining our first half results presentation today. Joining me is Greg Dean, our Director of Finance, David Stone, Company Secretary, and Matthew Duff, Director of Commercial and Entertainment Germany. Okay. First half was a challenging period due to materially greater government-mandated COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions when compared to the prior comparable period. To highlight a few of these restrictions, the combination of the New South Wales and Victoria lockdowns from July to October 2021, and the continued impact of international border closures, resulted in 31% of our hotel's available rooms in lockdown zones, and this compares to 18% in the prior year. In Australia, cinemas in Greater Sydney were impacted by 102 days of lockdown compared to none in the prior comparable half year.
Auckland, New Zealand, was in lockdown for 107 days compared to 19 days in the prior year. Other regions across Australia and New Zealand were also impacted by lockdown periods. Thredbo's winter trading period was materially reduced because of the New South Wales government-mandated closure, impacting five peak trading weeks from mid-August to the end of the season. Despite all of this, the transformation strategies and actions we have undertaken over the past few years ensured we were agile and able to respond to these challenges. This is evident in the revenue growth and EBITDA turnaround for the group in this period, including AUD 75 million of active cost management. We made good progress on our goal of divesting AUD 250 million in property assets, achieving AUD 194.4 million in gross proceeds to date.
The combination of improved trading and divestments reduced net debt down to pre-COVID level. We have a strong balance sheet and are in a really good shape to navigate current changes and effect the growth. While Omicron presented new challenges from end of December, we're confident based on evidence to date, that we'll rebound quickly as COVID-19 restrictions are eased. I'm incredibly proud of the entire EVT team for the way they've continued to navigate the challenges, innovate and adapt to deliver the best possible results. Turning now to the group H1 overview. Despite the more challenging COVID-19 trading restrictions, the group's revenue was AUD 438 million, 54.8% above the prior comparative period.
Excluding the German government's Bridging Aid III support, which related to the prior year losses, group revenue was AUD 382 million, up 35% on the prior comparable period. The turnaround was largely driven by our entertainment group benefiting from customers' immediate return to the cinema when blockbuster titles were released, and the strong results from the execution of our Cinema of the Future strategy. Entertainment revenue for Australia and New Zealand was AUD 145.2 million, up 38.4%, and excluding subsidies, up 64.8 million or up 83.9%. While EBITDA was negative, it was AUD 20.7 million up on prior year, and prior year also included AUD 12.1 million of net retained JobKeeper support that was not available this year.
As mentioned at the AGM, we applied for support from the German government's Bridging Aid program, and the submission was successful, resulting in AUD 56.2 million of revenue recognized in this period, relating to losses incurred in the year ending June 30, 2021. Hotels revenue was AUD 80.4 million, down AUD 6.2 million on prior year, which included AUD 13.4 million of JobKeeper revenue not available this year. We were pleased to achieve strong average room rate growth and market share from all EVT hotel brands. Thredbo's underlying revenue, excluding bed nights sales of AUD 1 million, was AUD 26.5 million, down AUD 23.3 million on prior year due to the five-week mandated closure period.
However, we were very pleased with the results from the new product and pricing strategies, delivering record levels of revenue prior to the forced closure of the resort. The group's strong performance and active cost management continued with these strategies delivering AUD 75 million in savings in the half, mitigating around 69% of COVID-impacted revenue decline. Since the commencement of the pandemic in March 2020, active cost management strategies have delivered a total reduction in cost of AUD 339 million. As you can see, unallocated costs increased to AUD 10 million, but underlying costs were below the pre-COVID period. Increases related to material increases in insurance premiums, no JobKeeper benefit, and the end of COVID salary sacrifices as we enter the recovery period. Group normalized EBITDA was AUD 64 million, up AUD 95 million on the prior comparable period.
Excluding the German government support, underlying EBITDA for the half, AUD 7.9 million, up AUD 38.9 million on the prior comparable half year. Individually significant items were primarily related to profits recognized on property sales in the half year, and total reported net profit of AUD 33 million, up AUD 94 million on the prior comparable period. Turning now to the property division. We have a strong property portfolio, which based on the most recent valuations, is valued at around AUD 2 billion after the sale of the divestment properties. Our divestment goal of AUD 250 million is on track.
To date, we've achieved AUD 194 million, including AUD 107.9 million relating to the following properties in the half period: Canberra Civic Building, Riverstone, Newcastle Cinema property, and QT Falls Creek, which was an underperforming property and does not meet the QT brand standard. Overall divestments to date have exceeded the most recent valuations by 35.1%. During the half, we conducted a thorough process to determine if we could attract a premium on disposal of Rydges North Sydney as a residential development site. Our expectations were not met during this process when measured against the benefit of retaining the asset as a hotel, given the limited hotel supply in North Sydney and significant addition of office demand drivers in the precinct.
Therefore, currently, we believe the highest and best use remains an operating hotel asset with potential for mixed uses, and it is intended to be retained on that basis. As mentioned on several occasions, we will only divest assets if expectations are met. In the next 12 months, we expect to sell Rydges Rotorua, Atura Albury, and Atura Dandenong, with the Atura properties intended to be sold with long-term management agreements. We made good progress on both major property developments. 525 George Street, which is the cinema site, is a priority for us, and we have progressed detailed designs for the retail, cinema, hotel, and apartments in order to lodge the stage 2 DA by June. We're in the process of appointing the sales agent for the residential marketing process.
We expect the stage 2 DA to take between 9-12 months for approval, following which we'll commence the marketing of the apartments for presale, and subject to successful residential presales, construction is expected to commence in FY 2024. We'll also be shortly submitting the stage 1 DA for the commercial office tower component of the 458-472 George Street property. We expect this to take up to 12 months for approval, following which a design competition will be required before submitting a stage 2 DA. As part of our strategic goal to maximize our assets, we have a targeted capital plan to upgrade key assets. The QT Gold Coast refurbishment is well underway and will be completed later this calendar year. This upgrade includes the conversion of underutilized space into revenue-generating areas and an enhancement of guest rooms and conference facilities.
We closed Rydges Melbourne for an upgrade in January that will transform the hotel into our new Rydges flagship brand standard. The upgrade includes the expansion of our conference area by over 1,000 sq m. Completion is expected in early to mid-2023. Prior to COVID-19, Rydges Melbourne contributed around 15% of the group's owned hotel earnings, and as a result, this closure is expected to negatively impact the earnings in the short-term 2022 calendar year. We've also commenced upgrades at two of our top five cinema locations, Chermside and Innaloo, including Cinema of the Future concepts. In terms of other developments, we were pleased to unlock AUD 7 million of value from our Thredbo property development activity through the release of a new development site and the expansion of an existing subleased property.
We are currently in the process of reviewing and assessing a further land release and expect to lodge a DA in calendar 2022. During the half, we also entered into an agreement to increase our interest in Rydges Latimer in Christchurch from 16% to 100% over a period of two years. The recently upgraded 175-room hotel opened in 2013, has extensive conference and food and beverage facilities, and we believe is an excellent addition to the portfolio of our owned hotels. Now turning to the hotel division. As mentioned, first four months of the half year trading period were the toughest to date, given increased government border closures and restrictions. The available room percentage, as stated, was 31% in the current half compared to 18% in the prior half.
This was calculated based on the number of available owned hotel rooms in each location multiplied by the days each of those locations were on lockdown. We were really pleased that the actions taken to mitigate the revenue impact. Underlying revenue was up 4.9% on the prior year. The three and six months delivered revenue growth in the half compared to the prior months, once JobKeeper is excluded. While the market experienced hospitality labor shortages, action taken earlier in 2021 to retain staff supported hotel operations through this period. Targeted retention incentives, flexible working arrangements, well-being leave, and the unique benefits the group can offer staff were among the tactics deployed, and we'll continue to invest in our people to ensure we remain in a leading position to retain and attract the best people. Normalized EBITDA was a loss of AUD 1.9 million.
However, prior year EBITDA included the net benefit of AUD 8.7 million from JobKeeper, which was not available this period. We were also pleased to welcome three new managed hotels into the Independent Collection, taking the Independent Collection now to 10 properties. Overall, it was a period of weekend leisure demand and softer weekday trading, with corporate travel impacted by company COVID policies to stay at home and border closures. Occupancy across all brands was therefore impacted. However, pleasingly, all brands were able to achieve strong rate growth. The QT Group average room rate was up 16% to AUD 223, which is in line with pre-COVID levels. Rydges December RevPAR was above the prior comparable month and one of the strongest RevPAR results of the pandemic to date.
Upgrades are underway for Rydges owned and managed properties, which will mean we're in the best shape for recovery. The Atura rate offset any weakness in occupancy to achieve RevPAR in line with prior year, and we were particularly pleased with the demand for the Atura Adelaide Airport property. The next couple of charts are trying to provide some insight into the impact on occupancy and rate when lockdowns occur and then restrictions ease. The yellow line represents pre-COVID financial year 2019 occupancy. This entire period has incurred some level of government-mandated restrictions or lockdown of borders. The blue and purple bars highlight the most restricted trading periods. In summary, you can see that as soon as the New South Wales and Victoria borders opened in early November, demand was tracking ahead of prior year December and January.
The red dotted area in December and January represents booking cancellations due to the Omicron wave. These cancellations are understated, as they don't account for short lead business that would have also occurred during this period. Pleasingly, even with Omicron wave in January, occupancy was relatively in line with the prior January. As already discussed, rate growth is pleasing. The chart demonstrates a combination of a different market mix and smarter pricing strategies during the first half period of this year. In terms of mix, there's less wholesale and C&E business available, so we focused more on domestic leisure and maximized our share of the available domestic corporate market, which is in the early stages of recovery. December and January achieved rate growth above the pre-COVID-19 period. In January, rate was up 7.2% on January 2019.
We were also pleased that all brands continued to outperform competitors. We will continue to adjust the right mix and rate to attract the greatest share, meet customer expectations, and deliver greater margins into the future. Turning now to Thredbo. The five-week government mandated closure of the resort at the end of winter resulted in skier days down 55.7% on prior year. Early winter season trading produced record levels of revenue underpinned by the success of the revised business strategy, generating a return from the 2021 snow season despite a shortened season. We had a one-week delayed start to the summer season due to adverse weather conditions, resulting in underlying revenue adjusted for bed sales down on prior year. The Omicron wave impacted December with staff shortages due to isolation requirements, causing some disruption to food and beverage venues.
However, growth in mountain biking visitation resulted in an 18% increase in mountain biking revenue in November and December 2021 compared to prior year. We were really pleased with the response to the new beginner Sidewinder trail, Thredbo's easiest trail, which was open this season, taking the total mountain biking trails to nine. Despite the delayed summer opening, EBITDA for the summer season, adjusted for bed sales, improved 7% on prior year. Overall, EBITDA for the half was AUD 10 million and non-normalized profit was AUD 5.2 million. Excluding property sales, JobKeeper income that benefited the prior year, and certain other non-recurring items, EBITDA was AUD 3.7 million. This is a solid result in the context of COVID-19 closures. Development projects underway include construction of a further three mountain biking trails in the Cruiser area, scheduled to be ready for the next summer season.
Also, a major upgrade to the snowmaking system, including the installation of 10 new snowmaking fan guns on Friday Flat, is expected to be completed in time for the 2022 winter season. The proposed Alpine Coaster installation will add a further year-round attraction to the resort and is scheduled to be completed in the 2023 winter season. We've got preparation work underway for the replacement of the two-seater Snowgums chairlift with a new six-seater chairlift scheduled for completion for the 2024 winter season. I would like to recognize and thank the Thredbo team for winning Australia's Best Ski Resort at the World Ski Awards for the fifth year in a row. We have no doubt that our future plans for Thredbo will only continue to enhance the experience. Now turning to Entertainment. It was certainly a pleasing period despite increased COVID lockdowns and restrictions.
The opening of cinemas globally resulted in studios releasing quality blockbuster films. As expected, demand returned immediately. Entertainment Australia revenue was AUD 120.3 million, a 36.9% increase on the prior comparable period. Excluding JobKeeper, which was around AUD 26.3 million in revenue, which benefited the prior year, revenue increased 95.5% on the prior comparable period. Australian box office increased by 105.9%, and the box office increased by 106.1% on the prior comparable period. Eight titles were released that grossed over AUD 10 million, compared to only three titles prior year. No Time to Die grossed AUD 35.6 million at the Australian box office, which is in line with the previous James Bond title.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has cumulatively grossed over AUD 79 million, actually almost AUD 80 million, making it the fourth highest grossing film in Australia over the past 20 years and grossing 109.9% more than the previous Spider-Man title. Fortunately, there were fewer government mandated COVID restrictions when both films were released. December box office revenue was down only 2% on the pre-COVID December result. Without the impacts of the Omicron wave, box office revenue would have exceeded the December pre-COVID period. The Omicron wave over Christmas had some impact on family visitation, with families appearing to consider self-isolating before a holiday or considering their vaccination options. We believe this is short term and expect this to normalize as school returns. Overall, customers spent more each visit.
As you can see from the two graphs, the combination of premium concepts and variable pricing strategy delivered a record yield result, average ticket price increasing 15.3% over the pre-COVID half year 2018. In addition, a period of record merchandising spend ahead was achieved, increasing 16% over the prior period and by 49.9% over the pre-COVID half year 2018. Our new data-led marketplace design, premium Parlour Lane range, and new proprietary technology contributed to the result. The new variable operating model resulted in the EVT-managed cinema EBITDA margin improving more than 3 percentage points in December when compared to the pre-COVID December.
It's important to note that while we are trying to create more effective and efficient operating models, the incremental cost of implementing government mandated requirements in the period was around AUD 1 million in Australian cinemas. EBITDA was a loss for the year at AUD 1.6 million, which compared favorably with an EBITDA loss of AUD 18.9 million in the prior comparable period. Excluding the net benefit of JobKeeper in the prior comparable period, EBITDA improved by AUD 29.4 million. For New Zealand, while the prior year had substantially less government-mandated COVID restrictions, like 19 days of Auckland closures versus 107 days this period, revenue is stronger. This is simply because in the prior year, global cinema closures due to COVID cases in key global markets meant some studios delayed blockbuster releases. New Zealand was open, but there were few releases.
This year, New Zealand was closed or restricted, but when open, there were blockbusters on screen to attract customers. Entertainment New Zealand revenue was NZD 24.9 million or 46% up on the comparable period. Excluding government wage subsidies, revenue increased 38.7%. New Zealand nationwide box office increased 42.2% on the prior period. The return of blockbuster films was the top 10 grossing NZD 29.8 million, an increase of 97.9% on the collective gross of the top 10 in the prior comparable period. The top two films, like in Australia, No Time to Die, and James Bond. James Bond, sorry, No Time to Die grossed NZD 5.6 million, which was only 3.1% down from prior James Bond, despite releasing when Auckland cinemas were closed.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has grossed more than AUD 11 million, which is 98% up on the previous Spider-Man title. As evidenced in Australia, the Cinema of the Future strategic initiatives resulting in customers spending more per visit and the operational model changes reduced the cost to serve, while customer sentiment improved relative to the COVID-19, pre-COVID period. As the graphs demonstrate, these initiatives resulted in the average ticket price increasing, which was actually represented in record months for every month of the half. In addition, a really strong result to spend per head growing 42% on the pre-COVID spend per head. The EBITDA results for the half year was a loss of AUD 1 million, which was a significant improvement on the EBITDA loss of AUD 4.3 million in the prior comparable period.
The impact on EBITDA from the Auckland closures this year is estimated to be around AUD 2.6 million. As you're aware, New Zealand is trailing Australia in terms of the COVID-19 wave. Therefore, we expect a greater impact on performance in the second half for New Zealand as a result of continued restrictions. Turning now to Germany. We were really pleased with the strong improvement in trading in Germany, with underlying revenue, adjusted for Bridging Aid III, up EUR 83 million on the prior comparable period to EUR 114.9 million, with less closures in the first five months before the Omicron wave. Entertainment Germany unadjusted revenue was EUR 171.1 million, including government subsidies, 431% above the prior comparable half year.
Excluding Bridging Aid III, which was EUR 35.5 million, which related to losses incurred in the eight-month mandated closure period in the prior half year, revenue was EUR 114.9 million, 256.7% above the prior comparable half year. Initial trading results have been encouraging despite the capacity restrictions applicable across the various German states. 3G rules, referring to customers needing to provide evidence that they are vaccinated, have a recent negative COVID-19 test, or have recovered from COVID-19 to enter the cinema. Some states now apply a 2G plus rule, requiring customers to show evidence of vaccination and a negative COVID test. Despite these restrictions, July and October admissions exceeded the pre-COVID comparable months. In addition, No Time to Die reached 6 million admissions, which is the best-performing title since pre-COVID-19's Frozen II.
As evidenced in Australia and New Zealand, gross and key metrics was also achieved, with AAP up 12% and spend per head up 16%. EBITDA for the half year was AUD 65.2 million, which compared favorably with an EBITDA loss of AUD 42.1 million in the prior comparable period. Excluding the German government's Bridging Aid III program, EBITDA was AUD 9 million or AUD 51.2 million above the prior comparable half year. As a result of the Omicron outbreak, approximately 16% of our screens across the CineStar circuit were mandated to close during part or all of December. All screens have since reopened, and we're operating with restrictions at the end of January. The Omicron wave prompted a delay in the release of local German films to July onwards, which typically account for around 20% of box office.
However, over the past few days, the government has announced an easing of restrictions in late March, so there's potential for some of the local film releases to perhaps move forward. The German government has implemented the Bridging Aid III damage compensation program for affected businesses for the January to September 2021 period. Further to this, in May 2021, the German government announced a EUR 2.5 billion culture fund to help relaunch the country's cultural sector. The culture fund provides compensation in cases where there's a spike in coronavirus infections, and it forces events to be canceled or postponed or capacity restricted, and the venue is not mandated to close. The aim of this fund is to help mitigate losses incurred to enable businesses to endure the COVID-impacted period and will participate in this program where relevant.
The group continues to pursue legal advice in relation to the failure by Vue International to meet its contractual obligation, which resulted in the sale of the German cinema operation being prohibited. The group has reserved its legal and all other rights in relation to the failure by Vue International to complete the transaction. As a reminder, when we reference the Cinema of the Future strategy, we're referring to three key focus areas. Firstly, offering a range of seats in every auditorium to maximize auditorium return in addition to premium experiences. Secondly, using data-driven optimization to inform improved candy bar layouts, operating hours, pricing, rostering. Thirdly, development and deployment of technology such as service to seat, which is a mobile food and beverage ordering app resulting in a double-digit increase in average transaction value, satellite content distribution, enhanced e-commerce features.
We're really pleased with the results to date, and we'll keep on innovating. The film lineup as it stands today looks good on paper. The slide highlights films that we would expect to deliver more than AUD 10 million-AUD 15 million at the Australian box office. Based on this, we anticipate that March, with The Batman, should perform well, but overall the months may be below the prior year, which included Godzilla vs. Kong, Peter Rabbit 2, and Raya and the Last Dragon. April has three titles for the Easter period, including Fantastic Beasts, Morbius, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, compared to prior year titles Tom and Jerry and Mortal Kombat. May looks good with the highly anticipated Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness versus last year's biggest title, Wrath of Man. In reality, it's all about June, the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, Top Gun: Maverick finally releasing.
Well, the release date's May 26th, so it'll benefit June. Minions: Rise of Gru. Baz Luhrmann's Elvis versus the prior year, which included Fast & Furious 9, Quiet Place 2, and The Conjuring 3. Release dates are all subject to change, and beyond June is still forming, but we're anticipating a strong Christmas period should Avatar 2 be released. In terms of an outlook for H2, it's extremely difficult to provide an outlook given the ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions. However, based on what we know today, we expect that the H2 EBITDA should deliver a strong improvement on the underlying EBITDA of approximately AUD 15 million in the prior second half. We've highlighted some of the film releases, which we feel good about. Hotel should be relatively in line with prior year.
The benefit of international borders opening is likely to have more of an impact when New Zealand borders are open, and with less restrictions to enable the trans-Tasman business to return. Thredbo's Winter Season typically opens on the June long weekend and is subject to snow conditions, and we expect property revenue will be lower than H1 due to the success of the property divestment strategy. The easing of restrictions in New South Wales and Germany is welcomed, and we really look forward to a future of less interrupted trading. We remain focused on our three key strategic priorities that are embedded at the group and division level. Grow revenue above market. Continue to be agile with our COVID safe operations. Enhance our brands and pricing models because we've seen good results. Continue to innovate and expand across all of our divisions. Secondly, maximizing our assets.
Our divestment strategy is on track. We've got targeted investment in our core assets, and we're making good progress on our major developments. Thirdly, business transformation. Insight-led customer experience enhancement will continue. We're gonna keep innovating in customer and operating technology for efficiency, and we've got a very focused Elevate people, social, and environment program across the business. We are really proud of the way our teams have navigated the last two years, which has been the most challenging period in the company's history. We have a clear strategic plan. We're focused on ensuring that the changes we make today benefit the future. We're in a strong position to progress growth initiatives, and we really look forward to operating with less COVID-19 restrictions. Thanks for your time. I'm now happy to take questions.
This is the operator. Should we open the floor for Q&A?
Yes. Yes.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. 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. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. The first question comes from Nick McGarrigle from Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Good day, team. Thanks for taking questions. I just wanted to run through a bit on the property side, to start with. I think I might have missed what Jane mentioned, but I think you covered off on Atura Albury, Atura Dandenong maybe, and Geelong. Can you just run through those hotels that you mentioned will be up for sale over the remainder of this calendar year?
Sure. We said Rydges Rotorua, Atura Albury, and Atura Dandenong. The Atura properties would be sold with management agreements in place.
Right. Okay. Just, I mean, those are relatively new properties or sort of refurbishments. Is that something that we should read into the Atura brand, or are you happy with the brand? It's just those particular sites that you don't think are core?
Yeah, nothing to read into that at all. Very happy with the brand. We actually just signed a new property at Oran Park, which we're excited about opening as well. No, this is just purely the fact that they're regional properties.
Okay. As an extension, do you see places like Geelong, Hobart, Cronulla as regional or they're close enough to the CBD to be considered core properties?
Well, we consider it. We're still reviewing them, but we consider that Cronulla is quite a strong city location attached to Sydney. Hobart is a city location. I'm sorry, Geelong. Yeah, and Geelong itself, while it is more regional, it has a strong local market, so at this point in time, it's not in our consideration set.
Cool. Just maybe an update on the German properties, which I think you acquired them for about EUR 40 million. As at the last valuation there in that property presentation, it's EUR 68 million.
Mm-hmm.
Just to confirm what the strategy is around those sites, as they compare to the operating assets of the German cinemas.
We do have a plan to divest those sites, but we're just wanting to see some recovery in the German market before we do that because we are the tenant in those sites.
Is that just in the context of you'd engage in a sale and lease back of those sites and you want to see a bit more demand from potential investors? Is that the idea?
Oh, we just think the German market, when you look across Europe, is kind of coming out of COVID and recovery, so we wanna sell them at the best possible time for those properties. They are listed as potential divestment properties in the future.
Okay, cool. I mean, if I add up my assessment of Dandenong, Rotorua, Albury, I think you've got the Adelaide and Townsville cinemas for sale. I guess that gets you to over AUD 250 million, which is great against the target that you laid out last year. You know, I mean, we've touched on a fair few things just now, but is there further non-core assets that you think across the network like Darwin, Lismore, Wollongong, Mackay Cinemas that you would also consider selling?
Yes, they're on the list, but they're much smaller properties. I mean, we've got a few cinema locations, but they're small.
Yeah. Okay. Maybe just changing back to the actual operating results of cinema. So just maybe if you can just talk through the December month in terms of what you saw in average ticket price, F&B attachment, and the EBITDA margin, and how much of that 3 percentage point improvement do you think is something that you can hold on to in the longer term, and maybe some of the learnings from what might have been a busier month than you've had for a couple of years?
I guess I think we were really pleased that it was probably the first month that we've had with our new operating model in place, our new pricing, and our F&B enhancements in place. Even though revenue was marginally down, you know, I think revenue was about 6% for the December month, that EBITDA margin improvement was really pleasing. We feel quite confident that that margin improvement we could sustain. We didn't see anything in the model that we thought didn't work, and we tracked that sentiment. We're feeling pretty good about that model. We've had a one-month trial is what I'd say. We've still got
We hope we've got plenty of months coming up with that's unrestricted that we can, you know, put the new model to test, but we're pleased with the December results.
Sorry, just to clarify, the revenue in December was down 6% on December 2019 as in a pre-COVID month, but you still grew margin?
Yes.
Great. In terms of the German cinema, the underlying result there was really strong. Can you talk, was that predominantly on the back of, I guess, box office recovered, not amazingly, but is it more around the active cost management and the operating model that drove a better underlying result in Germany?
Yes, both of those things. In fact, Matt, you're here and you go to Germany. Can you talk about Germany?
I think Germany, after being closed for eight months, we reopened in July and, you know, we were pleased with how it bounced back. Clearly the result in Bond was outstanding and we had a lot of momentum going into Christmas, unfortunately Omicron, like here, came out during part of December, really sort of slowed us down. You know, those first 5 months were encouraging coming out of such an extended lockdown period.
I think the thing, as we've highlighted in the presentation, if there's a good film, there's strong. As has always been the case, and we're very confident that will be the case going forward.
That's great. I mean, just in terms of, given the momentum that we're seeing in Germany and that the operating earnings do bounce back quite quickly when there is good content, do you think that puts the business in a stronger position to consider, you know, reinvigorating the divestment strategy around that asset?
I think that, you know, we've highlighted that it's a non-core asset and we would be open to divesting that asset at the right price. All improvements in trading support that strategy. We still need a clear period of solid trading. Now, Omicron kind of cut that down for us a little bit in December, but we were pleased with those results prior.
All right. Thank you. I'll let someone else ask questions. Thanks for taking those.
Thank you. The next question comes from John O'Shea from Ord Minnett. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Thanks very much for taking my question.
Hey, John.
Just from me, and I'll keep it brief and conscious of others behind. For me, the key question that I wanna focus on is around what's happened post Omicron, 'cause obviously these results have very little Omicron in them. Obviously December, we saw some impact, but that was relatively muted in the sense that people, they really didn't start to behave much until we really got well into December. So what have you seen since then in January and February? Particularly interested in the Australian cinema business in terms of consumer behavior and indeed the Australian hotels business and
Because we've seen lots of evidence of fear among consumers. You know, forget about the restrictions and lockdowns and all those sorts of things. What have you seen? Has there been a change? Has there been more of the same? What have you seen in terms of consumer behavior and willingness to go and attend cinemas or go to hotels and all those sorts of things that are a core part of your network in Australia?
Our view on that is the Omicron wave on cinema is a relatively short-term impact over the Christmas period with families and holidays and return to school. You know, we think as people are returning to schools, people are returning to cinemas. We need to see some of the films in March, like The Batman, come out to have a look at that. If we take a film like, is it Jackass?
Yes.
Yeah. Jackass, just making sure I'm not abbreviating the title. Jackass is a film, like, that outperformed what it should do at the Australian box office. You know, we're putting it from a cinema perspective, we think it was more of a shorter term impact over the summer period. We're probably getting more evidence as we get into the kind of April period with Easter, et cetera, to test that theory. That's our view at this point.
Sure. Just to clarify, you did see obviously a negative impact from that in terms of attendances in January and February so far?
We did not get through very January. The family films that released in January, there was about a three-week period where, you know, we think those films, the box office was impacted with families hesitating to disrupt travel plans, et cetera, and isolating. The releases that we've had subsequent to that, we're not seeing any impact of Omicron against what we would expect those films, how we would expect those films to perform.
Sure. What about the hotel side? What did you see there in the impact of Omicron and how is that playing out?
Well, that's why we tried to put those diagrams in to provide some insight. You know, we were tracking well ahead. We saw that short-term immediate cancellation period with holidays and people testing positive, et cetera. However, we feel that once again it's starting to pick up a bit. You know, in the last 10 days we've had encouraging pick-up of corporate relative to prior year, same month, prior year. You know, kind of putting it down to a late December, January, you know, February impact. We, you know, beginning of February impact, but we're seeing good signs that we've moved on from that.
That's great. Thanks very much, Jane.
Thank you. The next question comes from Sam Teeger from Citi. Please go ahead.
Oh, hi, Jane. I appreciate there's multiple different initiatives in this new cinema operating model, but I guess help us visualize what's actually happening here. It's really helpful if you're able to provide maybe the one or two biggest drivers for the 3% margin benefit compared to pre-COVID.
I really do think that it's our variable operating model. That's one of the biggest drivers. You know, we are programming everything, opening our roster room, and how we operate the cinema based on what we think the lineup looks like. It's far more variable than what it was. I think that's definitely helping margins. Technology is-
Sorry.
Sorry.
Just to know, is that mainly around wages?
That's mainly around wages, yes. The second thing is technology, which is helping that. Kiosks and the pickup of kiosks, online bookings, even in Gold Class with our service to seat model. We're getting higher spend and it's less resource intensive. I think technology is also helping our labor model and also helping spend. From a spend perspective, we are, you know, we're heat mapping. We're focused on selling popcorn, ice creams and fizzy drinks and water. Of course, water's gold. We have really re-merchandised our areas to make sure that you have got maximum access to those at peak times, and we're seeing a good increase with that. It simply is data-led retail layouts. The fourth thing is just the variable price model.
you know, we've got a price point in the cinema for all different customer segments. We've got our three-seat concept, so we've got more premium coming out of auditoriums, but we've still got the, you know, the affordable price set for those that want the standard seat. I think that's really, really supported us as well. It's not one, it's those three things which have really driven the improvements.
Right. Okay, cool. Just in terms of CapEx for the second half, you know, there's quite a few hotel refurbishments, which are happening. What should we expect for CapEx for the second half? Just so we can get a sense of future refurbishments, how much are you spending on QT Gold Coast and Rydges Melbourne?
Sam, we're not giving out what we're spending on those, but for the CapEx spend for the second half, which is obviously it's difficult to tell in this market when.
When work will be completed, but we're sort of giving a range of roughly, at or above the first half spend, which was around AUD 30 million.
All right. Last question, just corporate costs. How do we think about that in the second half versus the first half?
Corporate costs for the second half.
Yeah.
Same.
Yeah, very similar, Sam.
All right. Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Jane.
No problem.
Thank you. Reminder to the participants, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one. The next question comes from Brian Han from Morningstar. Please go ahead.
Jane, the 15% increase in average cinema admission price in Australia, how much of that do you attribute to, variable pricing as opposed to, charging more premium experiences?
I suppose charging more for premium experiences is part of the variable pricing. I guess what really helps that is having a blockbuster film. I think that's probably a driver as well because a high demand film enables our model to work well. I think that, you know, I think that's probably more of a driver to support that model than kind of premium versus variable pricing.
Jane, can you remind me, that variable pricing, is that variable also to session times or session times is not a driver in that variable pricing model?
In some areas, sometimes it is. It depends what the mix of product is. We've got, you know, we understand the seniors market is more price sensitive. We've got areas where some families are more price sensitive, and then we've got areas where we can alter that price based on time of day. It's probably more market than it is time of day, who's coming in the door.
Okay. Jane, if you don't mind, just one last question in the hotel space. I can't get a handle in this space, but are there many boutique chains or independent operators that are struggling? If so, is that presenting any opportunities for Event?
Well, we actually think across entertainment and hotels, we thought there would be more companies struggling through COVID, but that doesn't appear to be the case at this point. You know, we've got our ear to the ground, and we've had a look at various businesses, but it's actually quite the opposite. There's probably people seeking a premium rather than a desperate sale. There's no bargains to be had that we can find at this point.
I'm sure.