Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. It's gone 10:00 A.M., and I'd like to welcome you to our meeting. Friends, I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we're meeting today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I pay my respects to the elders both past and present. I also welcome you to the meeting of shareholders and extend a warm welcome to shareholders who are participating through our online platform. We do have a quorum present, and accordingly, I declare the meeting open. I'd like to introduce you now to my colleagues, starting from my right, Mr. Brett Chenoweth, Valerie Davies, David Grant, Jane Hastings, our CEO. From my left, Mr. David Stone, our Company Secretary, Peter Coates, and Jenelle Webster. We also have with us today, both in person and online, a number of our executives.
Also, Mr. Cameron Slapp from KPMG, the group's auditors, is in attendance and will be available to answer questions at the end of the meeting. I'd like to acknowledge that this is Cameron's last AGM and last signing of our accounts. He's part of a five-year rotation, and we thank him for his endeavors and wish you all the very best, Cameron, in the future. Mr. Daniel Robinson, who is taking over from Cameron, is here today, not as an active participant, but will do so after Cameron's retirement. Friends, every effort has been made to ensure the meeting runs smoothly. However, if any technological issues arise and it becomes necessary to provide procedural information in respect of this meeting, updates will be provided on the company's website and also through the ASX. We'll begin the meeting with an address from myself and our CEO, Jane Hastings.
We will then go through the formal proceedings as per the agenda. Resolutions will be decided by a poll. Voting on the resolutions is now open, and you can vote anytime during the meeting, and voting will be extended for a further 10 minutes following the end of the meeting. Please note that only shareholders, proxy holders, or authorized shareholders' representatives may vote. Friends, item six is a conditional resolution. It would only be put to the meeting if 25% or more of the votes cast on item two for the adoption of the REM report are cast against that item. Based on the proxies received, it is clear that the second strike will not be received, so item six will not be put to the meeting. I will now ask our Company Secretary, David Stone, to provide further information regarding meeting procedures. David?
Thank you, Alan. The AGM is being conducted as a hybrid meeting. This means shareholders may participate in person or through our online meeting platform. For those attending using the online meeting platform, the voting icon will appear on the navigation bar. Once you click on this, the resolutions will appear on your screen. You should see for, against, and abstain options for each resolution. You can change your votes at any time until the poll is closed. For those attending in person, if you are entitled to vote, you will have received a blue voting card. Please ensure that you complete your voting card and hand in your card to one of the representatives from Computershare. If you need any assistance, simply raise your hand and one of the attendants will be with you. As Chairman, Alan holds a number of open proxies.
As set out in the notice of meeting, Alan will be voting all available proxies in favor of each item of business that will be put to the meeting. Maria Dzopalic of Computershare Investor Services is acting as the Returning Officer. We will answer questions and comments from shareholders at the end of the meeting after all of the items of business have been presented to you. This includes any questions directed to the auditor. For those attending online, we encourage you to start submitting written questions and comments now. If you have any difficulties in asking a question, please refer to the user guide, which can be accessed through the platform. To ask a verbal question, please follow the instructions on the online meeting platform. For those attending in person, you may ask a question or make a comment if you hold a blue or yellow card.
Simply raise your hand when the Chairman starts taking questions, and one of our attendants will be with you. Please do wait for the attendant with the microphone before you begin asking a question so that shareholders attending online will be able to hear you. To ensure that shareholders as a whole have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at today's meeting, we ask you to limit your questions or comments to two at a time and then allow others to ask a question. Questions and comments should relate to the items of business under consideration at this AGM. Thank you. I'll now hand the meeting back to Alan.
Look, thank you, David. The first item of business deals with the financial statements of the group, the directors' report, and the external auditor's report for the year ended 30th of June , 2025. The statement and reports were approved at a meeting of the board of the company in August this year and are contained within the annual report. I have pleasure in presenting these statements and reports to the meeting. In doing so, I would like to make a few comments on the group's activities. The 2025 annual report, which includes the financial statements for the year ended 30th of June , was released in September 2025. The normalized result after tax was a profit of AUD 38.4 million. This was up AUD 4.3 million, whilst the reported net profit after tax for the year was AUD 33.4 million.
The result included another record performance for our hotels, a very good Thredbo result considering the challenging 2024 weather conditions, and an entertainment result that demonstrated the success of management's strategy of driving exceptional operating leverage. This was achieved despite the global impact of fewer films being released due to production disruption following the Hollywood strikes of two years ago. Jane will comment further on the group's results and strategies and outlook in her address. The board was pleased to increase the dividend payments during the year, with total dividends for the year of AUD 0.38 per share, fully franked, an increase of AUD 0.04 per share when compared to the prior year. The board considers dividends in the context of the capital requirements for future growth and a desire for continuity of earnings, both for the shareholders and also for the group.
The group prides itself on the strength of its balance sheet, which is underpinned by property holdings. The group's net debt at the 30th of June was AUD 311.9 million, comprising a total cash balance of AUD 76.7 million, with total debt outstanding of AUD 388.6 million. This provides significant headroom in terms of the available liquidity with the group's core debt facility of AUD 650 million. This facility matures in May 2026, and the refinancing process is well underway and has gained strong support, already being instigated from our leading bankers. The board continues to review, assess, and monitor appropriate capital management. We are aware we still have a material level of asset upgrades to play catch-up on, but we will review each asset to determine if the required capital expenditure will deliver an appropriate return or whether it would suggest divestment of that asset.
The management team, supported by the board, recognizes the opportunity for continued growth in the hotel division through recycling capital, acquisition, and investment in key hotel properties, together with the investment in platforms to grow the group's asset light hotel management business. The group and its shareholders have seen the benefits of this focus on hotels with another record result in the 2025 year. We are pleased to support the launch of Connect Hospitality and the acquisition of Pro-invest Hotels . This seeded a new pillar for hotel growth, asset growth, and asset growth. The acquisition of Pro-invest is expected to complete in the coming months. Whilst the entertainment and Thredbo divisions were impacted by factors outside management's control, the strategies deployed by management have been remarkable in generating materially stronger results for shareholders in the toughest of conditions.
As investors, we are well aware that the majority of the group's earnings were generated from two highly volatile industries and dependent on external factors. We cannot predict snow and wind, and we don't make the movies for our screens. However, management strategies have mitigated substantial external pressures, and we know that these businesses can generate significant cash flows when conditions are favorable. As globally reported, the film industry has not had a normal marketplace for a meaningful period of over five years, with the impact from the COVID closures to the recent Hollywood strikes materially disrupting film supply. However, we see a pathway for further film recovery, and our investment in all-weather snowmaking and in Thredbo will assist in generating a more consistent winters period over the coming years.
We continue to evaluate the group's businesses, and the team have focused on creating future optionality so that when markets normalize, we can consider the most desirable mix of earnings. The board strongly supports management's property strategy. We will retain property that supports our hotel growth ambitions and divest of properties that are no longer required, so as to be able to recycle that capital into earnings and growth opportunities. Whilst we will consider the development and divestment of further properties, I want to be very clear that we will only divest assets if we can achieve the best return for our shareholders. We have a strong balance sheet and have no strong requirements to sell assets until market conditions are favorable.
The group has been guided by the ASX Corporate Governance Council's principles and recommendations during the year, and the Corporate Governance Statement has been published on the group's website. This sets out the corporate governance practices and procedures and should assist shareholders in appreciating the importance placed by the board on good corporate governance. We also focus on maintaining an appropriate approach to remuneration, and details of this are dealt with in the annual report. In particular, the group's policies are designed to, as far as possible, ensure the remuneration package is reflective of an employee's duties and responsibilities and should enable the group to attract, motivate, and retain high-caliber executives. In assessing the group's remuneration arrangements, the board is mindful of the challenge and complexities of our group, with its three separate operating businesses, a substantial property portfolio, and multiple geographies.
We have commissioned external benchmarking for the CEO and key executives based on the relevant and appropriate peer companies, and we have set remuneration at appropriate levels within that group. As you may recall, at last year's AGM, more than 25% of the eligible votes cast were against the adoption of the REM report, resulting in a first strike under the Corporations Act. We engage with key stakeholders and shareholder advisory groups to understand concerns regarding the group's remuneration structure and disclosures. Following this engagement process, important changes have been made to the timing of recognition and disclosure of short-term incentive awards and to the group's long-term incentive hurdles for future awards. Further details of these are set out on page 35 of the annual report. The board renewal process is ongoing, with Brett Chenoweth having been appointed to the board in 2022 and Jenelle Webster appointed last year.
The search and renewal process is continuing to identify further potential new candidates. Friends, I on the board acknowledge the outstanding efforts of the CEO, and I'm confident that the actions of Jane and her team have provided a strong platform for the future. To the rest of the executive team and all group employees, I extend our thanks for your collective and personal efforts. We are proud to have such a depth of experience and recognize the contribution which you have made and which will continue to be invaluable as we embrace the opportunities that arise in the future. Friends, I'd also like to thank my co-directors for their efforts during the year, and in particular thank you, our 6,300 shareholders, for your ongoing support. Jane, you may like to say a few words. Thank you.
Thanks, Alan, and good morning, everyone. Group normalized revenue for the year was AUD 1.2 billion, up AUD 15.6 million on prior year, driven by hotels, entertainment Australia, and Thredbo. Group normalized EBITDA was AUD 160.8 million, up AUD 9.5 million. We're pleased with the group result, particularly considering some of the challenges that we had in that year, including hotels cycling the Taylor Swift benefit from the prior year, subdued economic conditions in New Zealand, and the closure of Rydges, Queenstown, for an upgrade and Cyclone Alfred's impact on the QT Gold Coast. In Thredbo, as Alan's highlighted, worst winter conditions in over 20 years, and in cinemas, we had fewer films release with the continued disruption from the 2023 Hollywood strikes on film supply. Also, given a large portion of our cinema market share is in Queensland, we had the impact of Cyclone Alfred.
Overall, Cyclone Alfred is estimated to have impacted our group EBITDA result by around AUD 3 million. The group's unallocated expenses were materially below prior year, despite the continued market cost challenges, down AUD 3.1 million, and unallocated corporate costs remain below financial year 2019 on an underlying basis. Reported net profit after tax was AUD 33.4 million, up AUD 28.6 million. We have a strong property portfolio valued at around AUD 2.3 billion. This reflects a 15% increase since 2020, despite the successful divestment of non-core properties that generated over AUD 310 million in proceeds and was sold at around 30% above valuations. It's also important to note that in our results, we've replaced more than AUD 16 million EBITDA from these divestments based on the team's successful execution of our growth strategy. The independent valuations for some key properties were updated at 30th of June.
The updated valuations were up overall by 4%, but they did not include the key potential development sites in Sydney CBD. Our property strategy is clear. We want to own hotel properties in key city locations that will support the asset-light growth of our hotel portfolio. As our hotels' growth strategy evolves, we'll continue to review the merits of each hotel property we own. We're clearer on the brands and locations that may require acquisitions to drive asset-light growth. In relation to our lower yield sites in Sydney CBD, for 525 George Street, CBRE was appointed as a sales agent, and as already indicated, the process is expected to take around 12 months subject to achieving the right outcome. We're also focused on reviewing strategic options for the George and Market Street precinct, which includes 458-472 George Street, EVT's head office, QT Sydney, State Theatre, and the Gowings building.
We recognize that the George and Market Street precinct is a highly valued prime Sydney CBD property holding. We expect to provide an update on the broader George and Market Street precinct later in this financial year. Our hotel strategy has evolved over the past few years to drive growth. We now have three pillars for growth. The first pillar is via our EVT-owned brands, QT, Rydges, Atura, and Lylo, and we'll drive growth of those owned brands by targeting a wider range of market segments, such as entering the budget lifestyle market with Lylo, for which we've also secured planning approvals for new locations in Fremantle and on underutilized land at QT Gold Coast. We're also committed to innovation as our consumers are wanting innovation, such as the new cozy room concepts at Atura Adelaide Airport. We'll grow by entering new segments or new markets, I should say.
Recently, we've done that with QT Singapore, and Rydges Resort Wailoaloa Beach in Fiji is in the planning stage. We'll continue to increase the asset value of our owned hotels. For example, the upgrade of Rydges Melbourne has produced impressive results, and we're now undertaking a significant upgrade of Rydges Queenstown, which will be fully rebranded as a QT. This is an exceptional property and is situated in one of the strongest hotel markets. Upon full completion in financial year 2028, we anticipate annual EBITDA between AUD 14 million - AUD 17 million. Of this, approximately AUD 6 million -AUD 9 million will represent incremental earnings over financial year 2025.
We've also secured a pipeline of new owned hotel brand hotels for future years, including the Radisson Flagstaff in Melbourne, which will be rebranded as the Rydges Flagstaff Melbourne, Atura Oran Park, which will open in financial year 2027, QT Parramatta in financial year 2027, and Rydges Tauranga in New Zealand, which is expected to open in financial year 2028. The second pillar for growth is via our independent collection. This is where we can create an independent brand for an asset owner that wants to retain ownership of their brand but leverage our capabilities. We developed this concept a few years ago, and this group has now grown to over 20 properties. We have introduced the third growth pillar, EVT Connect Hospitality, which enables the management of a third-party brand when an asset owner chooses to franchise an existing brand and utilize EVT group capabilities.
Our announcement to launch EVT Connect Hospitality and at the same time accelerate the strategy with the acquisition of the Pro-invest business is an important component of our growth plan. The third-party hotel management model is very well established globally and represents a new pillar for asset-light growth for EVT. The Pro-invest Hotels acquisition includes 15 long-term hotel management agreements under franchise agreements with major global hotel brands, with around 3,200 rooms across Australia and New Zealand. We expect the acquisition to deliver an annual EBITDA of AUD 8 million- AUD 9 million once it completes later this year or early in 2026. We also expect value upside as we develop opportunities in this new market segment. With this acquisition, we will be the second largest hotel group in Australia with over 100 hotels by June 2026.
For the entertainment division, good progress continues with our Fewer Better strategy, which means targeted investment in the premiumization of key locations while exiting marginal sites. Over the past seven years, we've exited over 30 locations, saving the group more than AUD 80 million of capital expenditure with limited impact on market share and positive impact on earnings due to the strategies deployed and the recent challenging film supply conditions. In Australia, based on the current circuit, the group expects to still deliver pre-COVID EBITDA on only 70% of pre-COVID admissions due to the strategies deployed. We have confidence that this is the right strategy for entertainment.
Our innovation will continue creating owned brands like Gold Class, you're in V-Max right now, Boutique, Event Junior, our three-seat format, and the latest sofa c inema concept, complemented with investment in the world's best premium formats, including IMAX, which is now at Innaloo, and other locations to be announced, and the new 4DX and ScreenX locations, which are performing exceptionally well. These premiumization strategies underpin the record spend metrics we've achieved. The group recognizes this division as a significant cash generator when conditions normalize. In Thredbo, our strategy can be summarized as creating a premium experience by investing in ways to extend a winter season, generating more year-round earnings, and offering more events to drive visitation. Strong progress on the strategy has been made by the team. Thredbo's differentiated business model materially mitigated the impact of the poor 2023 and 2024 seasons and contributed to the strong 2025 results.
We continue to enhance the snowmaking systems and have recently installed an all-weather snow factory on Friday Flat, providing the ability to make snow at 20 degrees Celsius and provide more consistent snow conditions for longer winter periods. We would anticipate investing in further snow factories over the next three to four years. The intention is to focus on the golden triangle, which is deemed critical so that customers consider Thredbo as open, and it will provide a skiing and snowboarding product in more marginal years. Planning is also underway for the replacement of the two-seater Snowgums chairlift, with a new six-seater chairlift scheduled for completion by the 2028 winter season, subject to planning approvals. This year, our Thredbo team delivered more than 140 events in quarter one alone.
Customer satisfaction was the highest it has been, with NPS up 72%, and the investment in year-round earnings activities, such as the Alpine Coaster, is exceeding expectations. Many of you will be familiar with our overarching EVT strategy. We've got three strategic goals that guide every division of our group: grow revenue above market, maximize assets, and continual business transformation. You can see from the full-year results that we've been able to grow revenue above market, deploying demand-driving strategies, innovative new product and service experiences, ensuring positive customer engagement, and also ensuring a really highly engaged and productive employee culture. Our teams continue to maximize assets by creating new revenue opportunities from underutilized real estate, growing the value of the EVT hotel property portfolio, divesting underperforming and non-core assets to recycle into hotel growth projects. Our third goal is to implement business transformation initiatives driving continual improvement.
Over the past five years, we've reshaped our technology landscape, moving from legacy systems to cloud-native growth platforms. With two years left in our transformation roadmap, we've delivered a modern digital workplace, real-time data intelligence, and modern customer engagement platforms, which will support growth. Our Gold Class service-to-seat, hotel guest experience platform, and Thredbo mobile app all reduce friction and enhance our customer experiences, and more important, transactions on those platforms. We've embedded AI across marketing, design, cybersecurity, fraud detection, customer service, and back-of-house functions. Our investment in AI extends beyond efficiency. As conversational and agentic commerce reshape digital behavior, we're positioning our brands to lead in visibility, discoverability, and personalization, ensuring we are meeting customers where they are now searching and transacting. Our achievement of goals is supported by the group's Elevate program.
One, we want to elevate our customers, which includes continual enhancement to our customer listening programs to guide investment decisions. All divisions achieved improvement in customer satisfaction, with overall net promoter scores up on prior year. We want to elevate our people. Our team engagement scores are all above industry benchmarks. With close to 10,000 people, we've also modernized our people platform, making their experience with us better. In July, we also launched the first phase of our reconciliation action plan and continued inclusion programs across New Zealand. Elevating our environment, we continue to work towards reducing carbon emissions by 50% for Scope 1 and Scope 2 against our 2023 baseline year, and 25% for Scope 3. We are focused on energy efficiency, opportunities to increase renewable energy across our portfolio, and working with suppliers to reduce emissions in our supply chain.
As an example, the hotels division is rolling out the third-party verified sustainable tourism certification, ensuring our guests enjoy exceptional stays whilst also joining with us in our shared commitment to reduce the environmental impact. I'll now comment on performance over the first quarter. On a normalized basis, excluding the impact of AASB 16 leases, the group's EBITDA was AUD 61.8 million, up AUD 10.6 million, or a 20.7% increase on the prior comparable quarter, with all operating divisions contributing to the improved result. Entertainment group EBITDA was AUD 11.8 million, up AUD 4.1 million, or 53%.
Whilst Australia was below the prior comparable quarter as the film's release could not offset the exceptional prior year performance of Deadpool & Wolverine, the New Zealand market traded ahead of prior year, and Germany was the standout due to the strong performance of a local film, Der Schuh des Manitu, resulting in the best September month market admissions since 2015. Thredbo enjoyed better winter conditions relative to prior year. Quarter one EBITDA was AUD 29 million, up AUD 6.5 million, or 28.6%. While September trading was better than prior year, it was marginally softer than expected. The hotels delivered a record quarter one result with EBITDA of AUD 24.3 million, up AUD 2.2 million, or 10% on the prior comparable quarter.
This was an exceptionally strong result given the anticipated impact of the upgrade works at Rydges Queenstown Hotel and the ongoing remediation work that we have at QT Gold Coast due to Cyclone Alfred. Excluding these two properties, the underlying hotels group EBITDA was up 20.9%. All of our hotels continue to outperform their competitive sets. In closing, I wanted to touch on the outlook for financial year 2026. For entertainment, the November-December 2025 lineup looks promising with the release of Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2, and the next installment of the record-breaking Avatar series, Fire and Ash. Similar to a normal year, the result will be heavily reliant on the two critical trading periods of December and January and June. Generally, the supply of blockbuster titles is improving, and demand for good quality films is strong. Expect the full year EBITDA to deliver growth on prior year.
Of course, this is subject to film performance and date changes. The hotels division will be in line to achieve another full year record result, including the anticipated contribution from the Pro-invest acquisition post-completion and adjusting for the temporary negative impacts of ongoing works at our Queenstown Hotel of around AUD 2.5 million EBITDA and QT Gold Coast of AUD 2.5 million EBITDA. Overall, a negative impact between these two properties of around AUD 5 million EBITDA. It is important to note that the first half will include the majority of the QT Gold Coast impact. Our property result for financial year 2026 is expected to return to an EBITDA that is relatively consistent with the financial year 2023 result of around AUD 7 million. Overall, the Thredbo winter result was good.
However, September trade was a little softer than expected, as mentioned, and therefore subject to summer conditions and winter conditions for June 2026. We expect a full year EBITDA result of around AUD 25 million, noting that our summer months are typically loss-making due to the investment works required to prepare the resort for winter trade. In summary, we are confident in our group strategy, and we believe we are very well positioned for growth. I'd now like to take the opportunity to thank team EVT. The positive results we're experiencing are 100% a credit to you all. Your commitment to ensuring the best possible outcome for shareholders and customers, whilst also turning up every day to make sure EVT is a great place to work, is second to none.
I'm exceptionally proud of you all, and I'm confident that we have the right people and we've got the right capabilities to achieve our goals. I'd also like to thank everyone in the room for your support and interest in attending today's meeting, and to those of you participating online in this morning's meeting. Thank you.
Thank you, Jane. Friends, there is no vote on this item of business. However, as I mentioned earlier, I'll afford you the opportunity for questions later in the meeting. I'll now move to the first resolution to be considered, which relates to the adoption of the remuneration report. This report is set out on pages 35 - 47 of the annual report, and it explains the structure and the rationale behind the group's policies and the link between remuneration of key management personnel and the group's performance. It also sets out remuneration details for each director of the company and for each member of the group's senior executive team who were key management personnel during the year. It also makes clear that the basis for remunerating non-executive directors is very distinct from the basis of remunerating executives, including the CEO. I now move that resolution. Thank you. I'll move on.
The next item of business concerns the re-election of David Campbell Grant , who retires by rotation in accordance with the company's constitution. Mr. Grant's background and qualifications have been outlined within the explanatory notes of the notice of the meeting and on page five of the annual report. Friends, I now move that resolution. The fourth item of business concerns the award of performance rights to our Chief Executive Officer. This plan provides an incentive for executives to achieve above-average performance over the medium to long term in the group's businesses. These will be reflected in higher group earnings and growth rates. The plan enables the company to grant rights to executives and senior managers of the group, each right representing a right to receive one fully paid ordinary share in the company.
The rights vest and ordinary shares are allocated to the participant upon the satisfaction of the performance criteria that are set out in the notice of this meeting. Your board considers the incentive to management under this plan to be an important tool in attracting, motivating, and retaining talented employees. I now move that resolution. The next item of business concerns the giving of financial assistance under Section 260B of the Corporations Act. You will recall in August we announced the launch of Connect Hospitality and the acquisition of Pro-invest Hotels, which will seed this new hospitality business. Following completion of the acquisition, two of the acquired Australian companies will become guarantors of the debt arising under the group's financing arrangements alongside other group entities, and this may be regarded as providing financial assistance to the group to acquire shares in themselves for the purpose of the Corporations Act.
Accordingly, shareholders are being asked to consider, and if thought fit, approve the giving of this financial assistance. Friends, as this item of business is a special resolution, it means that at least 75% of the votes cast must be in favor of the resolution in order for it to be passed. I now move that resolution. Friends, the sixth item of business is the conditional school resolution, which, as I mentioned earlier, due to the proxies received by the company, we will not be putting this resolution to the meeting. Friends, that was the last item of notice of the meeting. I'd now like to invite questions and comments relevant to any of the items of business under consideration today.
You may also, if you wish, ask questions of the auditor about the conduct of the audit, the preparation and content of the auditor's report, and the accounting policies adopted by the company in relation to preparation of the statements, and the independence of the auditor to the conduct of the auditor. I open the meeting.
Thank you. Good morning, Chair. David Kingston from K Capital. I've got a couple of comments and then some questions. Amalgamated Holdings and now EVT have been an iconic company for a long time with some iconic assets. However, a lot of industries are changing, and I think that's impacting upon some of EVT's assets. EVT has a strong balance sheet and a solid hotel business and some fantastic properties. When adding its modest debt to its market capitalization, the enterprise value is now around AUD 2.5 billion. However, in my opinion, Chair, it's delivered poor shareholder value over the last 10 years. The stock price actually has flatlined. There's been no capital growth. FY 2025 NPAT was a low AUD 38 million relative to the market capitalization. The earnings per share, in my opinion, Chair, was a disappointing AUD 0.20 on a share price of around AUD 13.
Dividend, everyone appreciates dividends, but again, it was sub 3% with no capital growth. Why is EVT delivering, in my opinion, underwhelming shareholder value, not in the short term, but over the long run? In my opinion, cinemas are a structurally challenged business. There are so many ways for people to get entertainment these days. They're reasonably capital intensive with the fit-outs, and generally, I think the competition's coming from so many different forms of entertainment, including iPhones. There's unacceptable profitability, Chair. I don't think there's any debate about that last year. Page eight of the annual report shows the Australian and New Zealand cinemas delivered below AUD 5 million profit after the lease expense, and Germany actually delivered a loss. Thredbo, we all love Thredbo. I enjoy skiing there, but it's capital intensive. It has a peak season only of three months.
In my view, it's a difficult asset to get a great return on. You've got some great hotel assets. You've done some great things. QT is terrific. Overall, I think it's a challenged area. Plenty of CapEx, and it varies from property to property. You've got a fantastic asset, Chair, and I congratulated you before. Unlike Village Roadshow that sold their properties, you've got some iconic properties. George Street properties, multiple properties are very valuable. I'll get to a couple of questions soon, Chair. I'd like to congratulate Jane. She's very capable. Nickname Hurricane Jane is a compliment. However, in my opinion, Jane, your hard work and quality management won't really deliver proper shareholder value unless you can align that with urgent structural change. I've got two questions, Chair. Firstly, do you agree that zero capital growth for 10 years and low dividends is unacceptable?
What guidance can you provide shareholders regarding improving total shareholder return over the next five years? That's the first question. Thank you.
The person who suffered most from those comments of yours has probably been myself in relation to the share price performance and dividend returns. In relation to your general comments, we have had, over the last five years in particular, very difficult trading times, as I pointed out, in two of our key businesses. We've also, during that period, taken the opportunity to undertake significant work that was necessary to build value in some of our core assets. For example, this building in which we sit, we could have sold that some years ago. However, there's been five to six years of work to develop and conclude appropriate approvals, which have added value to the building. The company has been in a period of growth and development over the last five years.
Jane's pointed out a number of the initiatives that we have undertaken, and I might point out that the share price currently, subject to today's valuation, is some 22% higher than the share price at the annual general meeting last year. I'm not happy with it, but I do support and I do believe in the way forward that is being proposed by Jane and her team. Yeah, Jane?
I just thought I'd comment on the, you know, you comment on the entertainment industry being structurally challenged. It has been because during COVID and the Hollywood strikes, if we don't, people don't sit in a seat not to watch a film. Our supply has been challenged. What we can see is when we get a good film, and I've just commented on one today in Germany, there's no lack of demand, and they're paying more per visit because relative to other entertainment options, it's a good option. If you're living in a small footprint these days with property prices, you want to get out. Cinema is somewhere where you can go into the community. It's still the place that parents will drop their kids off. It's still a first date conversation.
From a consumer perspective, what we're seeing is when we get a good film, we're delivering better results than we've ever seen. I'm going to talk about the supply. Really what happened a couple of years ago is Disney acquired Fox, and through that merger, about 15 - 20 films left the market. We then had COVID, then we had Hollywood disruption, and supply and decline in admissions and box office are aligned. Now we've had the likes of Skydance acquire Paramount, investment going back in, Amazon have now established a theatrical release division. They're giving us films, sorry. Apple are now releasing, and lo and behold, maybe even Netflix one day might actually arrive at something, and they're actually working on a film Narnia next year. We've had a really challenged supply environment, but we can see, because we're in the industry talking to them, that that is improving.
What we know is that we only need 70% of pre-COVID admissions on a much smaller circuit because we've tightened it up to deliver the equivalent EBITDA. We're really aware, and I think my final point on this is fewer, better is our cinema strategy because we know that in the locations where we can invest, they are solid cash cows, even if we don't exceed 70% of pre-COVID admissions. That money we're using to generate growth in other areas of our business. There has been a supply problem, like no one can hide from that. What I say, and I can see a couple of our entertainment leaders in the team, everyone wants to make more money out of that business and they're focused on it.
I think just the level of change that we have put into that business over the last five years in particular has been exceptional. We have to get that supply in and we have to get that cash running through that business. We see it as a cash cow for investing in other divisions. I also think that the Chair has highlighted a couple of times that we are constantly looking at the future and evaluating what the structure of the business could be.
Thanks, Jane. All I'd say there is I don't think it's just a supply issue. I think there's so much competition coming down the tube with streaming. People can watch their movies on their iPhone. We won't debate that. We could go on for hours. I also do say I don't think it's a cash cow, Jane. The net profit you've delivered from cinemas last year, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany is AUD 4 million.
I just want to highlight on that. That's because we didn't have the supply levels. When we infer fewer, better, and we look at improved supply, you'll see a difference. Look at the turnaround in the Germany result for this quarter. We have shrunk the costs of those businesses to a level when the supply comes that it can be a cash cow. I note your point of you reflecting in the past, we're also reflecting and looking at a period where we didn't have the volume of supply. I would also welcome a meeting and to continue to discuss this further.
Okay, thank you. My second issue, Chair, is that I played a key role. Village Roadshow, one of your peers, was struggling. It had a lot of excuses for non-performance. At the end of the day, the shareholder value was poor. I played a key role in crystallizing an outcome that was very good for all shareholders with a bid of AUD 3 a share compared to a share price of half that before I got involved. I'd just like to ask the issue, and obviously, as you rightly say, Chair, you are the dominant shareholder. I think you've got around 40% of this, but via Carlton mainly, which I think you've got 50% or 60% of Carlton. You are the key shareholder, as you rightly say. Ultimately, decisions will need your imprimatur.
In my opinion, and I do have some experience, I do think there should be some structural change here to enhance your shareholder value, Mr. Chair, and everyone else's. In my opinion, something has to be done with cinemas. BGH is struggling at Village Roadshow. You've got a joint venture between them and yourselves. Surely there's some synergies by combining those two parts. Ultimately selling cinemas, I think they're a pretty difficult business. In addition, I do think that even though I like Thredbo, I ski there, love the place, I just don't think it's going to give you a great return on capital over the next 5-10 years. Appreciate your thoughts, Chair, or Jane, on potential attitude to structural change in this company. Thank you.
I think that we are always looking at what the structure in the future might be like.
Absolutely.
I think that there's nothing that you've raised today that we wouldn't discuss, evaluate, and look at. Just your note, I have to put an operator note in here. Just your note on the Village BGH. We run the cinemas for them. There's probably only about, and I'm going to get this wrong, there must be a cinema person here, they've got 12. They independently run 12 cinemas, we run the rest. All of the efficiency we've put into the system is in the majority of the joint venture cinemas. As the CEO of the business, looking at what the right structure in the future is, is definitely a conversation that's being had, but it needs to come with a consideration of right timing and right approach.
Thank you, Jane. I'll just reinforce what Jane said. She's been very vocal at the board level about a future structure for the business. She's been very innovative in looking at opportunities within the hospitality business and has brought to us a number of new products and initiatives that are delivering immediate earnings. Let me assure you that I have the faith in the future. I believe that we will get structural change in some areas, but I don't think it's going to need to be a revolution. It will be something that evolves over a period of time with an appropriate thought and structured basis. Thank you. Any other?
No questions online.
No questions online. Any other questions from the floor? In that case, thank you very much. I'll declare the meeting closed.
Is there a question?
No. No. Okay. That concludes the business. The voting will close in 10 minutes. The formal results will be announced to the ASX on our website and later during the day. During this time, however, we would like to present a video showcasing our strategies and initiatives across the entertainment, ventures, and travel industries. I declare the meeting closed, subject to the finalization of the polls, and in particular, I thank you for your attendance. Thanks, indeed.