Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for dialing in. With me today, I have Greg Dean, Director of Finance David Stone, our company Secretary and Matthew Duff, Director of Commercial. Okay. Whilst the year continued to be materially impacted by the pandemic, the second half performance of each of our divisions that were open clearly demonstrated that when government restrictions are lifted, demand returns quickly. In entertainment, with 80% of cinemas in the U.
S. A. Opened by the end of the year and cinemas reopening globally, studios began to release blockbuster films. We evidenced the immediate demand from customers returning to cinemas, an example of that being Easter 2021 weekend, outperforming the pre COVID Easter 2019 weekend. By the Q4, U.
S. Hotel occupancy had reached 60%. And despite various interstate and international travel restrictions, the group's hotels in Australia and New Zealand experienced quarter on quarter improvement in trading, reaching 63.1% occupancy in the 4th quarter with Q2 reaching 69.6%. At repo, government restrictions delayed the start of the winter season and kept the available audience to around 50%. However, the changes we've made to the model offset the impact and delivered an EBITDA margin improvement.
Also in line with the growing demand relating to health and well-being experiences, we had a record result in summer, which contributed to 3rd boat achieving an incredible full year result. Revenue in the second half exceeded the first half and the comparable half two period for Entertainment Australia and New Zealand and Hotels and Resorts. Overall, the strong return of demand for our businesses combined with our active cost management and government support were available underpinned all divisions achieving positive EBITDA for the second half. We saw a significant turnaround from H1 group EBITDA loss of $31,100,000 to a full year group EBITDA of $27,200,000 and a positive operating cash flow in the second half of $49,000,000 to keep net debt to pre COVID-nineteen levels. In total, we achieved $264,000,000 in active cost management savings, excluding government subsidies since COVID began, thanks to the incredible effort by the team.
Next slide. Thank you. This slide illustrates the success of our active cost management in response to closures and restrictions mandated by government. It's important to note that this bridge slightly understates these savings as it compares the comparison of the second half cost with the second half of FY 'twenty, which was also COVID impacted. Overall, we achieved a total of $158,000,000 in active cost management savings in the year, of which approximately 15% relates to rent abatements agreed with our cinema landlords.
As a landlord ourselves, we truly understand and appreciate the strong relationships we have with our landlords and the constructive support we've had to date and continue to require as we navigate the COVID-nineteen period. Next slide. This slide covers the entire COVID impacted period through to June 2021 with active cost management savings highlighted there at 264,000,000 Of these, approximately 10% relate to rental abatements agreed with landlords. There has been and continues to be an extensive amount of remodeling within each of our divisions to create more agile operating models. We believe that some of the changes we've made will deliver longer term benefits with improved margins post the pandemic.
Slide. Despite the COVID-nineteen headwinds, we are really pleased with the progress on our future growth strategies. And to highlight a few points, we achieved a record period of hotel network expansion. We've continued to right size the cinema portfolio with fewer best locations and target investments in our proven cinema of the future concepts. Our new concepts have delivered double digit growth in key metrics.
We've also transformed the 3rd by business model and continue to enhance the On Mountain experience. We've almost also made good progress in our major developments in Sydney, including adding $37,000,000 to the independent valuation for 525 George Street following the Stage 1 DA approval. I'll talk more on these later in the presentation. The overall independent value of the group's property portfolio increased to $2,100,000,000 based on updated valuation reports. After excluding Ridges Melbourne, Ridges North Sydney and Ridges Queenstown, the portfolio valuations increased 8.4%.
In relation to these three properties, Ridges Melbourne has been identified as a priority asset with a major upgrade program in progress. Ridges North Sydney, we've identified as a noncore property and is expected to be sold in this financial year. And the Ridges Queenstown accommodation wings were closed in February 2019 and work's underway to determine seismic strengthening options. So we're on track to realizing the goal of achieving $250,000,000 of proceeds from non core property asset sales within 2 years. Just as a reminder, a non core property asset is any property which does not relate to our operating businesses and has no potential to be developed into an operating business or as a property located in city fringe or regional locations, particularly a significant capital investment is required to stay in business.
In terms of the balance sheet, the net debt position has improved to $355,500,000 at 30 June from $452,000,000 at the half year and $421,000,000 at June prior year. And at 30 June, we had $173,600,000 of headroom in our core debt facility, which matures in July 2023. Whilst the medium to long term outlook is positive, in the short term, I'm sure you can appreciate it's extremely difficult in the current COVID-nineteen environment to predict when government will ease restrictions impacting our divisions. In terms of the July 2021 results, revenue was $63,700,000 up $17,500,000 on prior year, whilst EBITDA was breakeven and up $6,700,000 on prior year. It's important to note that the prior year included around $9,600,000 in different wage subsidies.
Hotels have been the hardest hit, resulting in the first negative EBITDA in July circa 300,000. The 3rd boat audience was materially impacted with the Greater Sydney lockdown. This has limited our audience at 3rd boat to around 25% to 30%. Despite this, 3rd boat delivered a positive EBITDA result but down 40% on prior year. Entertainment New Zealand delivered a positive EBITDA result with blockbusters being released and no COVID-nineteen restrictions in July.
Entertainment Germany delivered a close to breakeven result as the business reopened and Entertainment Australia a negative EBITDA due to lockdowns. Unlike last year when studios were not releasing films due to global cinema closures, with many major markets now open, blockbusters are being released and the lineup is strong. We just need to be open and trade. There's been no direct support from the Australian government with the recent lockdowns across our divisions, and this is a matter we continue to challenge. However, the German government and New Zealand government have support programs, which we are eligible to participate in.
Currently, we have been mandated to close Streetway for the first time in our operating history. All businesses in New South Wales and New Zealand are also closed, and other areas are operating under various levels of restrictions. We know that the timing of reopening is outside of our control and depends on success of the vaccination programs in each market. We're very supportive of vaccination programs and have offered our premises and encourage staff who are able to be vaccinated to participate. We continue to control all that we can control.
As we've provided evidence of to date, we've had great success in active cost management. We are confident that as soon as we open and restrictions are lifted that we're going to rebound quickly.
Next, please.
Now analyzing the results for the year. The numbers really speak for themselves. We saw a significant turnaround in the second half of the year when restrictions eased, and there were signs of a return to pre COVID-nineteen demand. Group revenue exceeded excluded the benefit of government subsidies was $540,000,000 down 45% on the prior year. Group revenue in the second half was up 30.9% on the first half and for divisions that were open all exceeded revenue on the comparable half year period.
The group's unallocated corporate costs were down 12.6% on prior year. This included voluntary salary reductions from myself and my executives and reduced board fees. In addition, no bonus payments made in the financial year and no long term incentive deficit. The unallocated cost savings were partially offset by a material increase in insurance premiums of $2,000,000 And overall, the group's insurance costs escalated to $11,200,000 up 75% due to extremely challenging insurance market conditions. Overall EBITDA was $27,200,000 driven by the materially stronger second half, and there was a 15.7% improvement in total reported net loss year on year from $57,000,000 to $48,000,000 Next, please.
Turning now to the Property division. We have approximately $2,100,000,000 in property assets, updated at 30 June on the independent valuations, which reflected the 8.4% increase I've mentioned. We've achieved a significant increase in profit of around 120% above the prior year, driven by a fair value increment of £7,000,000 on our investment properties. Rental revenue is below prior year due to COVID-nineteen related rent relief provided tenants. As I mentioned earlier, good progress has been on our strategy to divest noncore property assets.
By June, we had signed contracts to sales, realizing $79,600,000 of gross proceeds. And of that, dollars 49,300,000 was received in the year, the balance due to settled by September. The total gross proceeds exceeded the most recent valuations for these properties by $29,800,000 a 60% increase. The assets sold in the year included the Forum Building in Brisbane, which is a retail and commercial office Double Bay commercial and serviced offices Port Hacking Road Miranda, which is a warehouse Bridges Plaza Cairns Hotel Cairns City Cinemas, which actually ceased operations in 2019 in New Zealand, the Mount Maunganui Cinemas, which ceased operations in 2020. Further noncore properties are being prepared to sell in this financial year and include Ridges Bankstown, Ridges North Sydney and the Canberra Civic Building.
So we're on track to realize the proceeds of $250,000,000 within 2 years. Next slide, please. We've continued to make good progress on the major developments. In relation to the 525 George Street development, the Stage 1 DA approval has driven a $37 dollars I'm sorry, more than that, dollars 37,000,000 increase in the valuation for this property when compared to the previous valuation. This development includes unlocking 8 10 square meters of retail space, a cinema of 5 screens, a hotel with 3 35 rooms, conference space integrated within the cinema area and a city facing bar and restaurant.
Above the hotel are 109 apartments. We're targeting a commencement for this development in FY 'twenty three, 'twenty four subject to market conditions. Note that this render that you've seen here is taken from the south looking north with George Street running down the right hand side of the image. The hotel entrance will be via Kent Street. Turning to our 458-four seventy two George Street development.
We have DA approval for the podium component, which will include ground floor retail space of 3 40 square meters on George Street, an extension of the QT Sydney hotel with 72 additional rooms, conference center and a QT rooftop bar. A second EA will be lodged for a commercial office tower above the podium with 33 levels and approximately 34,000 square meters of commercial office space. Subject to market conditions, construction is expected to commence in the 'twenty five, 'twenty six financial year. And as we stated before, we anticipate that a joint venture partner will be identified to assist in funding and developing the commercial office tower component. Turning to Hotels and Resorts.
The Hotels and Resorts result was particularly pleasing. We were EBITDA positive even after excluding JobKeeper in every month from September 2020 and achieved this result despite more than 60% of the year being at least somewhat impacted by local government mandated trading restrictions and obviously international travel restrictions for the full year. In the New Zealand market with fewer COVID restrictions domestically, we achieved overall owned hotel occupancy of 70.2%. However, Australia was more impacted domestically, and we achieved occupancy of 48.6%. We achieved strong market share across each of our brands.
Rejazoned hotel RevPAR declined 10.6 percentage points less than the competitive set. QT RevPAR declined 8.9 percentage points less than the competitive set. Aatura RevPAR declined 5.8 percentage points less than the competitive set. Overall, we saw steady quarter on quarter growth in key metrics and RevPAR improved an impressive 106% from quarter 1 to quarter 4. Our active cost management initiatives in hotels achieved $30,300,000 in savings for the year, offsetting around 37% of the revenue decline.
And these new operating models will continue to support margin improvement when trading conditions normalize. Six new hotels with 9 13 rooms joined the group in the year. QUT Auckland, The Independent Collection had 3 hotels, and Ridge is also added Ridge's Gold Coast Airport and Ridge's Formica Resort in Auckland. Increased our interest in Juicy Snooze to 100% during the year after having taken a 50% share in February 2020. We are really excited about the growth prospects for this brand, and it gives us exposure to the budget of the combination sector when travel restrictions ease.
We've also continued to divest underperforming assets with Reece Glaser can sold during the year for $10,000,000 which compared favorably to the previous valuation of $6,200,000 Moving now to the key statistics by brands. Whilst all brands demonstrated strong growth through the course of the year, the owned Rigid's hotels recovery was relatively more subdued due to greater exposure to the Sydney and Melbourne markets with about half of owned Rigid's rooms in those locations compared to less than a third for QT. As mentioned, our owned ridges performed well relative to the competitive sets, and regional hotels performed particularly well. As an example, Snowy Mountains' gender bond property grew RevPAR 37% year on year. Demand for QT returned strongly in the second half of the year with weekly occupancy peaking at over 80% in early April 2021.
For Aatura, our Adelaide airport hotel has been a solid performer through the pandemic, and we are delighted to now be adding a tour of management agreements to our owned portfolio. We remain involved in hotel quarantine arrangements with owned hotels, including Ridges Rotorua, whilst QT Gold Coast was also involved for a short period in 2020. Overall quarantine business represented around 6.2 percent of owned hotels revenue for the year. And in terms of managed hotels, Bridges Brisbane Southbank, Bridges 42 Belly and Bridges Sydney Airport continue to participate in the quarantine program. Next slide, please.
So our strategy to expand our market from the comfort and boutique segments to a broader budget through to luxury segments by existing and new brands is proving successful. We also have refreshed the Ridges brand positioned as refreshingly local, leveraging our competitive advantages. This year, Cutie Auckland opened, starting property already being recognized for design awards and food and beverage awards and is the 1st QT management agreement in the group. We have a further 2 agreement signed for QT Newcastle, which we expect to open in 2022 and QT Parramatta, which we expect to open in 2024. So the QT group has grown to 12 hotels.
Bridges continued to expand to 44 hotels. 3 new agreements were signed in the year for the Ridges Gold Coast Airport in October, Ridges Formosa Resort in December and Ridgesport Adelaide, a new property which will open in 2023. As mentioned, we're also really pleased that the Aatura brand has grown under management agreements with the Thornham Hotel in Wellington, converting to an Aatura during the year and a management agreement signed for a new Aatura hotel to open in 2023 in Orrham Park, Western Sydney. Next, please. The independent collection by event launched in February is a future growth brand.
We recognize the gap in the market and match this with our ambition to expand and better leverage our capabilities. And it's important to note that there's actually more unbranded properties in Australia than branded. And whilst that set of hotels is a large number, our target is a clear subset of this, which is around which is properties with around R75 or more. The independent collection tiers provide flexibility to ensure we have an option for all hotel experiences. The financial model is flexible for owners, which is important at this time, from traditional management agreements included to a select services model.
We transferred 6 hotels into the portfolio during the year and added a further 3 hotels by June 2021 and have signed an additional 4 hotels to join by June 2022. The portfolio will be a minimum of 13 hotels with nearly 2,000 rooms. Next, please. We're investing in our key assets, and one of these is QT Gold Coast. We're targeting completion by mid-twenty 22.
As part of our goal to maximize our assets, we are focused on identifying underutilized space and converting this into revenue generating space. In completing the pool area upgrade, we've created an outdoor event space and bar. We're also enhancing our conference facilities. In addition, as highlighted in the image, we've developed a new accommodation concept, leveraging vacant rooftop space inspired by the growing trend for unique brand experiences. Next, please.
Another key asset is Ridge of Melbourne, and we are planning a major upgrade that will transform the hotel into our new Ridge of flagship brand standard. Ridge of Melbourne is located on Exhibition Street in the heart of Melbourne's theater district. At this property, we've identified opportunities for some new rooms, enhancements and suites to capture long stay business as an option for the future, and we'll be expanding our conference area by over 1,000 square meters to maximize this asset better using the underutilized real estate. We aim to close the hotel soon to undertake these works. And at this stage, we anticipate partially reopening the hotel from September 2022 with full completion early in the 'twenty three calendar year.
Next, please. The new GC Snooze Auckland property will be our flagship Snooze location. Whilst Snooze is traditionally aimed at the backpacker market with international borders closed, we've also unlocked new market segments, including families, sporting groups and co living. The property will include 37 double rooms with en suites, 70 rooms with a shared bathroom facility, 190 pods, a communal kitchen, breakout spaces and our Miss Lucy food and beverage concept. We're adopting sustainable, environmentally friendly design and a lower cost build using modular design pods.
The capital expenditure for the fit out is approximately $5,000,000 Now moving to Threadbo. The full year revenue result for Threadbo was up 6.4% on prior year despite a delayed start to the season, mandated capacity restrictions and less than favorable snow conditions. In response to COVID-nineteen, we initiated a new strategic direction that focused on improved customer experience to protect revenue and grow profit. This involves reviewing and reconstructing products, experiences, pricing and the delivery of the experience. As a result, with 48.7% less skier days, we managed to grow yield by 66.2%.
Revenue from summer operations continued the growth trend with an increase in visitation of 23% compared to the 20 eighteen-nineteen summer, with the 20 nineteen-twenty summer having been severely impacted by bushfires and COVID-nineteen. The summer performance underwent a record setting second half result with a positive EBITDA from the summer months for the first time in Swede's history. Customer sentiment has almost also remained high with an improved NPS score of above 40. Now any score above 30 is generally considered to be a great score. Food Boat was also known as Australia's best ski resort at the World Skier Awards for the 4th consecutive year.
Overall EBITDA was $29,700,000 a record year and up 19.7% on prior year. We're very proud that CUPO was the Australian was the 1st Australian alpine resort to achieve gold certification from EarthCheck, recognizing Cooper's leadership and sustainability initiatives for the alpine region. Initiatives include powering all of our major resort operations with clean renewable energy, SnowSat snow depth technology installed in grooming fleet to gain efficiencies and fuel usage in snowmaking. Merritt's Gondler is powered by a highly efficient direct drive electric motor, installation of a closed loop organics recycling machine and 3rdbo Alpine Hotel Plastic Production Plan focusing on removing all single use plastic products. Strong progress continues to be made with 3rd Bo's strategic growth plan.
Merit's Bondola was completed ahead of the 2020 winter season, whilst planning is underway for a major upgrade of Merit's Mountain House, a new year round F and B events and conferencing venue. A new mountain biking skill set was added during the year, taking total mountain biking trails to 8, and we have a new trail, Sidewinder, which will open for the 'twenty one, 'twenty two summer season. This will be 3rd boat's easiest beginner trail. A further 4 more mountain biking trials in the cruise area are planned for the next 2 years, and we're planning to add an alpine coaster to add a further year round attraction. We've also started preparation for the work and for the replacement of the 2 seater snow guns chairlift with a new 6 seater chairlift.
Moving now to entertainment. The second half result was significantly improved on the first half with positive EBITDA of 15,700,000 compared with an EBITDA loss in the first half. Transformation of the operating model contributed to this result. For example, we achieved a 22 percentage point improvement in profit per admission during the release of Fast and Furious 9 when compared with the previous title in that series, Hobbs and Shaw. Whilst global cinema closures resulted in studios delaying the release of blockbuster titles in the first half in particular, more blockbuster films were released towards the end of the year due to the gradual reopening of cinemas globally and advanced COVID-nineteen vaccination programs in those markets.
Whilst the Australian market box office was down 46.6%, it actually outperformed many other major global markets. Mandated closures and restrictions dominated the year, but we saw an immediate return of audiences when we were able to trade with sequels performing particularly well, including Godzilla versus Kong. EBITDA was positively impacted by active cost management of $46,800,000 dollars And it's important to note that active cost management excludes the benefit of JobKeeper, which on a net basis, excluding pass throughs, was around £17,000,000 for the year. Pleasingly, our net promoter scores showed an improved customer sentiment at a lower cost to serve. Premium Concepts was strongly favored by customers with admission contributions from Premium Concepts increasing by 3.9 percentage points.
Key revenue metrics, including spend per head, set new records every month and were up 24.5% for the year. The upgraded similar to future locations are further exceeding the circuit averages. We've continued to exit unforming locations to improve our portfolio with the exit from Arndale and closure of Adelaide City and Townsville. We're getting some fantastic insights from our Finnebuzz on demand trial, which we launched in February, and we now have close to 65,000 registered users. Next slide.
The next slide illustrates the strong demand we've seen in the second half for entertainment. Wait for that slide to come up. In the top left, you can see that the key blockbusters released, most of the sequels, including Godzilla versus Gong, Fast and Furious Iron and A Quiet Place 2, all outperformed the previous titles in their respective series. The bottom left chart shows that Fast and Furious 9 also outperformed not only Hobbs and Shaw, but also Fast and Furious 8 in markets where our cinemas were able to remain open. The graph to the top right shows that all customer segments have returned to cinema based on our transactional analysis of the Cinebuzz membership database.
The bottom right graph highlights that for the Easter weekend, as highlighted before, we outperformed the 2019 Easter weekend. So it's clear that we have returned to pre COVID demand levels when our cinemas are able to open and blockbusters are released. The next chart on the next slide is really for reference only and aims to illustrate the impact of government restrictions on our Australian cinemas for the year. You can see it's been a year of material disruption. The ability of our teams to pivot quickly to sudden changes announced in the media by government has been second to none.
Turning now to Entertainment New Zealand. The New Zealand market was relatively less severely impacted by lockdowns and restrictions, but still experienced a challenging year due to cinemas being closed globally, which delayed the release of blockbusters. Despite that, we reported a positive EBITDA for the second half, underpinned by the success of our active cost management strategies delivering $11,000,000 in savings. The Net Promoter Score for Entertainment New Zealand also showed a strong improvement to 46 points, resulting in an improved customer experience and in a lower cost to serve with payroll per admission reducing by more than 20% as a result of the new operating model. As in Australia, we saw clear evidence of customers spending more, choosing premium options and growing our merchandising spend ahead around 20% on the prior year.
As part of our non core property divestment strategy, the Mount Longanui Cinemas was sold in June for $5,200,000 which compared favorably to the most recent valuation of $3,100,000 Entertainment Germany. Our German cinema circuit operated with restrictions for part of the first half and then was closed from November through to June. The EBITDA for the second half includes government support payments. When we were able to open, we found customers were spending more each visit and growth was achieved in spend per hit and average admission price. Since reopening in July, initial trading results have been encouraging, notwithstanding various capacities restrictions, which are across each of the German states, with July 2021 achieving the best admissions total since July 2018.
Across the 16 states in Germany and within the states and within cities within the states, various COVID-nineteen mandated operating capacity restrictions are in place. We have implemented we have acquired the German government's 3 gs rules, which apply in certain regions and require that customers admitted to a cinema provide evidence that they are vaccinated or have had a recent negative COVID-nineteen test or have recovered from COVID-nineteen. Looking ahead, there's a strong lineup of local German films for FY 'twenty two to support the solid lineup of Hollywood blockbusters. In relation to the Finestar sales review, which was prohibited by the German Federal Cartel Office in December 2020 as a result of EU's failure to satisfy the FGO's condition for the transaction, we are continuing to review our options in relation to this matter. This next slide illustrates the impressive lineup for this financial year, and we've highlighted that what we think could be the top performing titles, including No Time to Die in October, Top Down in November, Spider Man in December, Thor: Love and Thunder in May and Jurassic World in June.
As always, the release dates are subject to change, but with the U. S. Cinemas open again, we're optimistic that most dates will hold. We just need to be able to open. The next slide highlights the depth of the local German content slated for release this year, including German thesis star Tereschwager's new film, which in English translates as saving the known world, and I'm not going to repeat to say it in German.
As many of you know, often our best performing titles in the German market are local films. Next slide, please. Looking ahead, as I mentioned at the beginning of the presentation, this is an incredibly difficult year to provide outlook comments as we just don't know how long the current lockdowns will extend in Australia and New Zealand. Australian government have suggested a framework for reopening based on vaccination targets. However, this is yet to be outlined in the New Zealand market.
The German government have suggested that given the rate of vaccinations that further lockdowns would be unlikely. However, restrictions will continue. We expect the German market to perform ahead of FY 'twenty one given the challenges of the past year. At this point in time, you'll all be very aware of the vaccination progress in Australia. In New Zealand, 23.6% are fully vaccinated, 41% at least one dose.
And in Germany, 65.2% fully vaccinated with 74.9% having at least one dose. And just for reference, the 7 day rolling average of around 6,000 new cases of COVID each day. As we've said, the timing of recovery depends on the success of the vaccination programs. Like many companies, we've offered to support the rollout, and we can see this progress as quickly as possible. Overall, whilst we can't predict when restrictions will ease, we are absolutely confident of the demand in our businesses from customers.
From a balance sheet perspective, as I said earlier, we're really well placed with our property portfolio increasing in value, and we expect debt to remain relatively consistent with current levels with the potential to further reduction from the proceeds of non core property sales. In terms of our strategic priorities, they remain very clear, and these are the 3 priorities that have guided our business for the last 4 years. We want to grow revenue above market, maximize assets and continue our business transformation. In terms of growing revenue above market, we are now agile and able to adapt to COVID-nineteen operating restrictions. We've enhanced our sales models and will continue to do so to outperform the market with a strong focus on looking at every single product, every price, every experience, identifying opportunities to innovate with brands and experiences and recognizing trends to improve yield and unlock future growth.
Maximizing our assets, the strategic divestment of the non core assets with the increased value of the core assets is key, and we've been very targeted with the upgrades based on where we can get the best return. Business Transformation, we've made very strong progress with our cash burn. We continue to evaluate everything every day and make sure the changes that we're making today do deliver benefits into the future. We've substantially improved the efficiency across our business, our Source TO Pay progress, which is our procurement strategy, is progressing well. We've completed the first stage of our cloud migration, and our digital employee and customer experience programs are well underway.
We're capturing and leveraging customer data insights better than ever before, guiding our strategic decision so we can continue to improve customer sentiment. We continue to evolve our corporate social responsibility actions, and we'll be talking more about our Elevate program focused on our people, social impact and environment later in the year. Importantly, we've continued to strengthen our culture, focus on every opportunity to elevate our people and ensure we're seen as a preferred employer in this highly competitive market. As I said in February, whilst I understand how difficult it is when you're not on the business, imagining how much work is required to adjust our businesses daily in response to various government restraints announced with extremely short notice. However, as a result of the committed, experienced and talented people we have across our business, we have materially mitigated the impact of COVID-nineteen.
And as a result, we're a new business. I'm incredibly proud of our teams, and we're going to come out of the current pandemic far more agile and stronger than ever before. We now have a short video to highlight the key initiatives. And after this, I'm very happy to take questions. Thank
Your first question comes from John O'Shea from Ord Minit. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, Jane. Hi. Hello, Jane.
Hi, John. Sorry, you dropped out for a moment then.
That's okay. Thanks very much for taking my questions. Just a couple from me. First of all, on the cost management side, you mentioned how there's $158,000,000 of active cost management, but you did say that some of that was from rent abatement. Now how much of that $158,000,000 you expect to, in broad terms, retain post the pandemic in the sense that, obviously, that rent abatement clearly won't last forever?
That's the first question. The second one is, obviously, the government subsidies, which this year you've got $112,000,000 I'm guessing next year will kind of be less than half of that. I just want to give us some sort of guide that how that's looking at the moment. And lastly, just wanted to confirm on the CapEx side that the ridges Melbourne won't actually start impacting the CapEx until FY 'twenty three, based on what you just said. So they were the 3 things.
Righty ho. Okay. I'll give that a go. So first of all, on the active cost management, so the $158,000,000 I said about 15% is rent abatements.
Yes, of the
remaining, it's too soon to tell about a specific amount. So I gave an indication of the margin improvement we had film on film, Fasten Furious 9 and Hobbs and Shaw, of around 20%. So I can't give you a specific number out of the 158, but what I can tell you is we're seeing kind of really good improvements on each film that we're releasing. But we need to get back into a more normalized trading pattern to fully evaluate how much we will save.
Sure. But you are expecting to retain a decent portion of that?
We are expecting to improve our margins. Yes, we certainly have a set of targets, but it really is too soon to tell what we can keep out of that. And as I've indicated, we've also got other things growing, but what's happened to insurance this So, yes, but the ambition is to definitely improve margins. In terms of the government subsidy, I don't think they're going to be too helpful here either. So at this point in time, we're not eligible in Australia as a large business for any direct subsidies.
And the wage subsidy is continuing in New Zealand. So the wage subsidy in New Zealand covers around 80% of wage costs when you're in a lockdown. And we've got the continued German government subsidies, which one of which is based on helping you to reopen. So it supports you while there are restrictions in place. So we can't give you a guide because it all depends on monthly performance, particularly with the German subsidies in terms of how much we qualify for.
And we're uncertain as to where we're going to land with the Australian government.
Sure. Now in relation to the just while we're talking about New Zealand, you gave an indication what Australia and New Zealand received from government subsidies in total. What was the split between Australia and New Zealand of those government subsidies in FY 'twenty one?
Sorry, Greg, do you have that on hand?
Sorry, I was on mute. Hi, Greg. Hi, John. How are you? Good.
Thank you. Of the split between Australia and New Zealand, I've got some of the total, the $112,000,000 that's recorded in the P and L and the revenue. There's not a lot for New Zealand because the wage subsidy ended, but that's about $2,000,000 in New Zealand, dollars 2,030,000,000 And the last one was just on the Ridges, Melbourne and the time frame, so we can get a bit of a feel for CapEx this year and next year, Elizabeth?
Yes. So it will be calendar 2022 in terms of that, but I'd say majority 2022, 2023, Greg?
Yes. Yes, I agree. It depends on planning and how that plays out, John. Sure. So the FY 'twenty three financial year.
In all likelihood. Yes. So would that be just before I leave it to someone else, would that so would that mean that in FY 'twenty two, your CapEx requirements obviously this year, CapEx was very much well down for obvious reasons. In broad terms, what can we sort of as should we think about FY 'twenty two, which should we expect it to be pretty similar in terms of the way you're thinking about it? Well, I think it will be above the current the past year, the 2021 year, obviously, because there are some hurdles in there.
And we weren't able to do anything much. Yes. But we do have some projects on foot now, which are not necessarily growth projects, but projects to catch up on from the previous year.
So I
think it will be above that, but it will depend on how the year plays out, particularly in these current circumstances. That's it. Thanks very much. And thank you all. Before I go, I just wanted to thank you on the disclosure this year, both in the preso and in the accounts.
Certainly, it's been the easiest it's been since the time I've been covering the stock. So well done.
Thanks, John.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Sam Tighe from Citi. Please go ahead.
Hi, Jane.
Hi, Shane.
Just in terms of the property portfolio, given the tremendous sale prices you've been achieving to date, what's the discussions been like internally around potentially upsizing the asset sale program above $250,000,000
At the moment, Sam, we're comfortable with the assets identified as being noncore. So that's what we're focusing focused on at this point in time. We do have a couple of others under consideration, but at this point in time, we're focused on the ones that we've mentioned.
Got it. Cool. And as we think about the gap between some of the recent property sales going for 60% above the last valuation, versus now the latest round evaluation is up in the single digits.
Yes. We have had much discussion about that internally. I don't know. Matt, you're on the call. Would you like to comment on that?
I think it's a broad range of properties. You can't get away from the fact that a significant proportion of our property assets are operating hotels that have been impacted clearly by the last 12 or 18 months. So I think there's many factors that come into it and each property has its own story. But I think in the circumstances with that increase, it's still a reasonable outcome. Sure.
And just wanted to ask about the abatements in a bit more detail. Firstly, just keen to understand where discussions are at with landlords around the current lockdowns. And in the past, when you have got abatements or if you get abatements on the current round of lockdowns, what proportion of leases have or will you likely extend it in here?
Okay. Look, it's a site by site negotiation. We feel like we've been very well supported by our landlords in the recent period, and those conversations are continuing. I think that's really all I can say at this point. We've highlighted kind of the percentage of the active cost management that we have in terms of rental abatements, and the conversations continue.
Yes. Okay. Well, maybe I understand the current negotiations are ongoing, but with the ones you achieved last year, can you give us a ballpark figure in terms of how many are the 10 year extended and perhaps by how many years?
I can't give you a ballpark figure, but I would say it wasn't there were some, not all.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Brian Han from Morningstar. Please go ahead.
Jane, as you look at what's happening overseas where vaccinations
are more advanced and as
you talk to your hotel and cinema friends in those countries, have you sensed any changes in consumer preferences in terms of demand for branded versus unbranded hotels or budget versus premium offerings in both hotels and cinemas?
No. We've always discussed is that there is much pent up demand. So I think as soon as people are able to travel, they're traveling, and they're selecting the property based on their budget preference. But we've seen we've had no report of branded, unbranded changes as a result of COVID-nineteen.
And in terms of the cinemas, budget and premium offerings, it's still the same?
Still the same. In fact, what we're saying, well, we're operating in another market. So the same increase in average admission price, preference for premium and higher spend ahead is being experienced in all markets that we've connected with and in Germany.
Thanks, Jack.
But people are spending more when they come to the cinemas.
Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from Weiwei Chen from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Hi, Jane and team. Thanks for taking my question. Appreciate your guidance is pretty impossible to give at the moment with all this uncertainty. But if we assume the worst and say we're kind of under similar restrictions for the rest of the calendar year, can you give us an idea of what the first half 'twenty one EBITDA might look like? I guess what I'm trying to work out is what's the worst case scenario?
Could it be worse than December 'twenty or given kind of wage subsidies no longer exist?
Look, even if I gave you guidance, I'd be wrong. Even if I gave you our worst case, I would be wrong. And the reason for that is things that are changing on a daily basis. Some markets are reopening, some are closing, subsidies from governments are evolving. So it's very difficult to give you any guidance there.
Greg, how would you do you have any thoughts on that?
Yes. No, Jane, I agree. Like we've sort of said that there is government 1, Germany is open, but there is further government support that's forthcoming there and we've sort of referred to that within the reports and previously. But it's just difficult and almost impossible to give you any guidance that we could serve with any certainty at this point in time.
I mean to give you an insight on that, we've changed our forecast 3 times in the last 2 weeks. So it's changing. New Zealand's open, New Zealand's closed. Queensland's open, Queensland's closed. Queensland's open.
So it's just too difficult to give you anything that would be sensible probably beyond the next 7 days.
Yes. Okay. All right. And then I guess just on the German damage compensation program, you received €27,500,000 to date. Are you expecting more?
And roughly kind of what's the quantum that you're kind of thinking about?
Yes, we are expecting more, but the quantum is yet to be validated. As soon as we do know and if required, we will let you know. But all we can say at this point is we are expecting more.
Okay. Yes. Just are you able to say relative to the €27,500,000, what life would be up or down on that or sort of on a similar level?
I would say less, Greg?
Yes. I would sort of say less, but it's in a similar kind of range. You've got to remember that and we've made reference to it in the reports that that's the amount that we received to date for the November December period, which are obviously very buoyant periods when we're open. And then obviously, there's there'll be hopefully support for the closure period from January to June, but clearly not as buoyant as the November, December compensation plan. But yes, we believe it will be reasonably in that range, but less than the 27.5% like in all likelihood.
Yes. Okay. And then just last one on, I guess, box office. So can you maybe speak to, I guess, what you're seeing for movies that have had simultaneous releases, whether it be your experience or sort of the global experience? And also, how are you thinking about sort of film costs going forward?
Should your theatrical windows shrink further?
Okay. So look, what we're seeing is when a blockbuster releases, we are, as I highlighted in the presentation, getting strong demand for that blockbuster. And where we're open, often they're exceeding the prior film in that sequence. In terms of reduced windows, we are anticipating our windows have shortened, but that doesn't impact the cost of the film.
Okay. All right. Thanks. That's all for me.
Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from April Lewis from Barrene Joey. Please go ahead.
Hi, Jane. Just two questions on the property portfolio for me. The first one is what are the price expectations for Ridges North Sydney? And then the second one is on the George Street DAs, why was the initial DA with the office knocked back and how the office differs now than compared to the original plan? Okay.
On the first one, April, I'm going to say as much as possible because that property is heading to market, so we wouldn't want to put a price limit on that. But as soon as we have solved that, we'll update you. And in terms of the DA, it was just preferred to do it that way because there are different complications with heritage in getting the 1st DA for the podium level sorted out, which we managed to do. And then it just made more logical sense to follow that up with the office component following that. Matt, did you want to add anything more to that?
No, not really other than the proposed tower form and scale is consistent with what we've always envisaged. And we've been working closely with council throughout the last year to get to a position which we think makes sense.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Nick McGarrigle from Barrene Joey. Please go ahead.
I just had a quick follow-up question on the German subsidy. I think you've applied for that. Is it a high likelihood that it gets approved at that amount that you've acquired that you've requested? Is that highly likely? And then I guess the second question on Germany, just a follow-up, would be around will you look to proceed with the sale of the 5 cinemas that were in question by the FCO in order to have it be a more smooth process potentially if there was another bidder?
Hi, Nick. In terms of the German subsidies, we've applied it as to the criteria for the application. And right now, it is actually with KPMG to be validated. So we're reasonably confident is what I would say, but it still requires auditing. And in terms of the divestments of those locations, some of those locations were in fact view locations, and some of them were ours.
And we divested 1 during that process, but we've got no further that we need to divest at this point.
Right. Okay. That's great context. Thanks for that. And then just in terms of the progress on that initial lodgment, that's not reflected at all in the FY 'twenty one results.
Is that correct?
That's correct.
Great. Thanks. And then just in terms of the just the last one around the it looks like the building at 525 George Street has had a bit of an amendment to the mix between apartments and resi. Is that just sort of fine tuning versus that original DA just in terms of where you think the best economic benefit?
Correct, yes.
And Nick, can I just clarify too the German support, we've received the amounts for the applications we've lodged? So the amounts were received post 30th June that have come in that have hit our bank accounts. But as Jane referenced, the other support applications for the January to June period have yet to be launched. Yes.
All right. Thanks again.