I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. John O'Sullivan, CEO. Please go ahead.
Thanks very much, Michelle. Thank you, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. As Michelle said, my name's John O'Sullivan, CEO of Experience Co, and with me today is Gavin Yates, the group's CFO. This morning we'll be presenting to you Experience Co's first half results for the year FY 2025. As outlined on slide three of our pack, and as per previous practice, this morning's presentation will be divided into four main parts. Firstly, I'll provide a business update from the half for business operations. Gavin will then talk you through the key financial information that's contained in the pack. Finally, we'll provide a brief trading update from the month of January. Following that, we're happy to take questions at the conclusion of the presentation.
Turning now to slide five, and whilst Gavin will take you through the financial results in more detail, at a high level, the business produced some pleasing results for the half. Sales revenue was up 9% to AUD 67.9 million. Underlying EBITDA was up 49% against PCP to AUD 10.6 million, with both operating segments producing growth in underlying earnings. The business recorded a net profit after tax of AUD 1.4 million, which was up from a AUD 1.3 million loss in the same time last year. Cash and cash equivalents was AUD 10.7 million, up from the end of FY 2024 of AUD 8.2 million, and net debt was at AUD 6.8 million versus AUD 8.9 million at the end of FY 2024.
Turning now to slide six, the half saw a continuation of the trading momentum that we've outlined during the course of our Q1 and Q2 2025 updates to the market, primarily driven by our Adventure Experiences segment. Our Skydiving segment has benefited from both the network simplification measures implemented during the half, along with the continued focus on load efficiency and operating site performance. Volume growth on PCP was primarily out of the Australian side of the business, despite it having two less drop zones from the end of the first quarter, with sites such as Airlie Beach, Cairns, and Wollongong all comfortably exceeding volumes on a PCP basis. The New Zealand business experienced more weather impacts, particularly during the Golden Week holiday in October, but still finished ahead of PCP off the back of growth out of our Wanaka drop zone.
Supporting this, our aircraft operations division, Performance Aviation, also benefited from continued focus on securing external revenues for aircraft maintenance and cross-hire, as well as the simplification of the skydive network. Turning our attention to the Adventure Experiences division, all operating units within this business unit have benefited from resilient domestic customer, despite the macroeconomic settings in both Australia and New Zealand, and an improving inbound market, particularly for the Reef Unlimited business unit. Newly invested into or revised experiences such as our Reef Magic Pontoon, Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel, as well as our new Treetops Park in Canberra, and Zipcoaster attraction on the Central Coast provided positive momentum across these business units. Wild Bush Luxury also traded ahead of PCP, aided by stronger volumes for the half for our walking business, as well as cost-out initiatives taken across the business unit earlier in the financial year.
Turning now to slides seven through to nine, these slides present the further color to the inbound recovery story for Australia in particular, and the continued opportunity for the group. On slide seven, what we see at a macro level with inbound visitation into Australia is that whilst aviation capacity is at close to 100% of FY 2019, driven primarily by North American and Middle Eastern carrier capacity, we see that visitor arrivals still remain below pre-pandemic levels, whilst outbound travel by Australians is now above those levels. Within this, visiting friends and relatives is close to pre-pandemic levels, whilst at holidays in November 2024, we're at 73%.
This all said, on slide eight shows the outward projections held by both the Australian government and also Oxford Economics, which show that the recovery in the growth of arrivals out to 2029 will continue, with both parties projecting that over the next five years, the growth in inbound visitors to Australia will exceed levels from 2019. Finally, on slide nine, we demonstrate the more immediate opportunity for the inbound recovery presents to the group, particularly as we look at the recovery rate versus 2019 by purpose of travel of all markets, and then also China. Bearing this in mind, as this was taken in September 2024, we can see that the Chinese holiday market for Australia was still less than 50% recovered at this stage and still lags the rest of the world markets.
All of these data points present both the longer-term and sustained opportunity, as well as the short-term opportunity for the group. I'd now like to hand over to Gavin, who'll take you through our financial results in more detail.
Thanks, John, and good morning, everyone. Just focusing on slide 11, financial performance, the first half results are consistent with the Q2 trading update released to the ASX platform on the 29th of January. As John indicated earlier, it's pleasing to report that positive momentum continued for Experience Co during first half 2025, with the business reporting improved volumes, underlying earnings, and importantly, free cash flow. Revenue of AUD 67.9 million representing growth of 9% versus PCP, and underlying EBITDA of AUD 10.6 million representing growth of 49% versus PCP, represents Experience Co's strongest first half performance since the onset of the pandemic. Both the Skydiving and Adventure Experiences segments reported improved performance during the half, with underlying earnings growth more pronounced for Adventure Experiences . Pleasingly, Skydiving performance improved despite the impact of weather on volumes for both our Australian and New Zealand operations during the half.
During the half, the business benefited from the continued recovery of international visitation and steady domestic volumes against a backdrop of challenging macroeconomic conditions. All business units reported growth in volumes versus PCP, other than our Wild Bush Luxury accommodation volumes, which experienced softer trading conditions. A key highlight of the half was improved operating margins driven by improved volumes, site efficiencies, and cost management. During the half, management continued its focus on a group-wide cost-out program, which since its commencement in late 2023 has yielded annualized group-wide savings of approximately AUD 2.5 million by identifying efficiencies at both a corporate and an operating site level. As John noted earlier, the group reported a statutory profit after tax of AUD 1.4 million for the half, which is a notable improvement on the loss after tax reported in the PCP.
Moving to slide 12, Skydiving, the Skydiving segment continued its recovery during the half, aided by the ongoing return of inbound markets into Australia and New Zealand. Segment revenue growth of 4% versus PCP and underlying EBITDA growth of 9% versus PCP was primarily driven by improved volumes and operating efficiencies at a site level. In terms of volumes, as can be seen in the bottom left chart on the slide, Skydive Australia reported growth in tandem pax volumes of 4% versus PCP, with a strong second quarter performance offsetting the impact of significant weather disruption in the first quarter. The second quarter performance was particularly strong given it represented a record 64% of pre-pandemic volumes and was achieved with two less drop zones operating. As can be seen on the bottom right chart on the slide, Skydive New Zealand reported growth in tandem pax volumes of 6% versus PCP.
However, opposite to Skydive Australia, Skydive New Zealand's performance was characterized by a stronger first quarter performance, which offset the impact on second quarter volumes of weather disruption, including during the key Golden Week trading period. Despite the impacts of weather disruption during the half, the Skydiving segment experienced a level of improvement in operating margins versus PCP, which was driven by stable average revenue per customer and cost-based improvement. During the half, management continued to take a disciplined approach to pricing within the context of the existing price point of the experience and cost of living and travel pressures for our customers. Average revenue per customer for the segment remained in line with PCP and was supported by continued strong uptake of photo and video in both markets.
Management also continued to implement initiatives to enhance operational efficiency and optimize asset usage across the network, with improved pax per load efficiencies achieved across the network during the half. As reported to the market in our Q1 2025 update, two Skydive Australia sites were placed in care and maintenance in mid-September 2024 as part of these improvement initiatives. This allows us to simplify the network structure and provided opportunities to optimize the asset usage and capital requirements of the business. Accelerating the improvement in performance of the Skydiving segment continues to be a priority focus of management. Moving to slide 13, Adventure Experiences, the Adventure Experiences segment reported a strong performance during the half, with growth in revenue of 14% and underlying EBITDA of 40% versus PCP. All three business units within the segment reported improved financial performance versus PCP.
However, overall fulfillment was led by the contribution of Reef Unlimited and Treetops Adventure, and driven by increased volumes, improved average revenue per customer, and cost control. Reef Unlimited volumes remained strong with growth of 7% versus PCP, as it benefited from the ongoing recovery of international tourists, steady domestic customer bookings, and the absence of significant weather events. Reef Unlimited also reported an 8% increase versus PCP in average revenue per customer, which was influenced by the product mix, price increases, and stronger onboard sales. Shifting to Treetops Adventure, it also had a strong half, with the business unit reporting volume growth of 6% versus PCP, driven by the contribution from new sites attractions and resilient volumes at existing sites. The Canberra site, opened in April 2024, continued to trade strongly and ahead of business case expectations.
Additionally, during the half, the business unit reopened the Zipcoaster attraction at the Treetops Central Coast site, adding to the existing ropes course and net world attractions at the site. Multi-attraction sites represent a key focus area for future growth. Performance of Treetops Adventure was also enhanced by average revenue per customer growth of 11% versus PCP, driven by price increases and the continued focus by management on increasing the average site spend of customers through initiatives such as enhanced food and beverage offerings. Finally, turning to Wild Bush Luxury, the business unit also reported improved performance versus PCP, driven by improved walk volumes and cost management, offsetting softer accommodation volumes. The segment continued to experience the impacts of Australians traveling outbound, as well as a more gradual inbound market recovery.
Turning to slide 14, balance sheet, Experience Co's balance sheet included cash of AUD 10.7 million and net debt of AUD 6.8 million at 31 December 2024, which are an improvement on the 30 June 2024 balances. The business also continued to maintain strong tangible asset backing, largely attributed to Experience Co's large fleet of aircraft and marine vessels. As can be seen at the bottom left table on the slide, the group's debt facility with CBA remains available to support the business. At 31 December 2024, the market rate loan facility, which is currently the key facility available for growth initiatives, had AUD 16.2 million of undrawn funds. Finally, turning to slide 15, cash flow. Firstly, just in terms of the tables on the slide, we've included some additional information to provide further insight on underlying free cash flow of the business, specifically the middle and bottom tables.
The top table represents a summary of the statutory cash flow statement reported in our interim financial reports. A key highlight of the half was the improved underlying free cash flow generated by the business, as can be seen in the table at the bottom of the slide. This was a function of two key factors. Firstly, the business maintained strong conversion of EBITDA into cash flow during the half, with underlying free cash flow improving in line with business performance and inherent operating leverage in the asset base. Secondly, during the half, maintenance CapEx remained at a similar level to PCP and is primarily driven by scheduled maintenance activities of the aircraft and vessel fleet, as well as equipment renewal for Skydiving and Treetops Adventure. As noted earlier, during the half, management implemented network simplification measures to help optimize aircraft maintenance schedules.
In terms of growth CapEx, the key investment during the half was the purchase of interest in a hangar facility and related equipment at Shellharbour Airport, primarily to secure our position at this key location for our Skydive Australia operations, which was previously leased. In terms of the net cash outflow from financing activities of AUD 1.8 million, it primarily comprised scheduled principal repayments for our CBA equipment loan facility and AASB 16 lease liabilities, net of a drawdown of AUD 1.3 million to fund the purchase of the hangar. It's noted that the PCP included cash flow associated with the December 2023 refinancing, which limits comparability. Looking forward, improving free cash flow of the business will continue to be a priority focus area for management, as well as building out the pipeline of growth projects with a particular focus on Adventure Experiences . I'll now hand back to John.
Thanks. Thanks, Gavin. Just before we hand over for questions from the call, just turning our now attention to slide 17 and the trading update. As we reported to the market during our quarter two FY 2025 update, January was a strong trading month for the business, with all business units having stronger PCP results in both revenue and underlying earnings, with the business at a group level recording an underlying EBITDA of AUD 3.7 million versus AUD 2.8 million in the prior corresponding period. Of note for this month, Skydive in particular was a strong month for both our Australia and New Zealand operations due to good demand from both domestic markets as well as the commencement of the Chinese New Year trading period at the back end of the month.
In Adventure Experiences , as a division, the results were ahead of PCP, with Treetops Adventure and Wild Bush Luxury both finishing well ahead of first half 2024 results, with Reef Unlimited having a similar operating performance for the month despite being more impacted by weather events during that time. Subsequent to the first half, you will note that during the month of January, the business also purchased a new vessel using our CBA debt facility to augment our Reef Unlimited business. We believe that this business will be very complementary to our operating capacity in the region, and we look forward to welcoming this vessel into our operations from April of 2025. As we sit here today, management and the Board's view of the longer-term earnings potential remains unchanged, with the continued recovery of inbound markets and the domestic consumption remaining the key sensitivities.
This set has optimism around the longer-term recovery of inbound tourism into Australia and New Zealand, along with recent interest rate cuts both here and also in New Zealand, and have given management the belief that the continued momentum experienced during this half should continue into the remainder of the full year. Thank you, as always, for your attention, and we're now more than happy to take questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from John O'Shea from Ord Minnett . Please go ahead.
Morning, John and Owen. Can you hear me okay?
Yes, it's John and Gavin. Yep.
Yeah. Sorry, John and Gavin. Sorry about that. Look, I just wanted to sort of flesh out a little bit more what you were mentioning about that new vessel, John. Can you perhaps give some sort of idea of how you're thinking about the sort of payback on that particular type of vessel and sort of a rough timeframe around payback there? Maybe just you mentioned about your confidence around the inbound side and given your experience in the past, sort of how you see that playing out in terms of the Chinese market, given how important that is, particularly to your Australia and New Zealand businesses?
Yeah. I think from where we're sitting on the vessel, we see a really good opportunity in that market to add capacity to our existing fleet. We operate up in Cairns with about a 30% market share out of that marina. We've seen that once we've invested organically into new projects such as the Reef Magic Pontoon, there is a fairly quick payback on that type of experience because the market does respond to new experiences in that particular market. We see this vessel primarily as adding its optionality both out of Cairns and Port Douglas. We see it as a vessel that can be utilized to double capacity in certain experiences during peak times.
As we've seen during the course of January, a number of our competitors were not, for whatever reason, able to operate during certain weather conditions and other times. We were able to take advantage of that, and this will give us further opportunity to do that. In terms of payback, I mean, look, the way that we're thinking about this, we think that this investment will pay itself back within a four-year timeframe. We think that the earnings on this will be very strong. As I said before, we've seen from organic investment into our Reef business up in North Queensland has produced good results. The pontoon, for example, has already paid itself back since that investment was made.
As to the longer-term recovery of inbound into Australia, I mean, I think as both Oxford Economics and the Australian government, as the Australian government have outlined, it'll be a steady recovery out through to 2029. I think we're now starting to see a bit more normality returning, a bit more normality returning into the market. Certainly, with the aviation capacity settings as they are, we certainly see that that will continue. Certainly, in places like Queensland, which I know is separate to Australia, we've seen that that market has responded incredibly quickly and is now operating near to or exceeding arrivals that it was pre-pandemic. In both markets, we're feeling pretty optimistic that this will continue. Importantly, what we've seen even during these macroeconomic conditions during the half, we've seen that domestic trading has been quite resilient.
Thanks, John.
Thanks.
Thank you. The next question comes from Eric from Tony. Please go ahead.
Guys, can you hear me okay?
Yep. Yep. Thanks, Eric.
Hi. How do you anticipate the potential impact from Cyclone Alfred on your operations? Have you sort of taken any steps ahead of the cyclone?
Is this the one emerging up off the northeast at the moment?
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Look, we have not seen any, Eric, we have not seen any sort of impacts from that emerging weather event. I mean, it really will depend on, I guess, how it impacts the region. What we have learned over the years dealing with Jasper and other things is that these cyclones can sort of emerge and then they disappear and then they can come back again, and it is hard to track. We have not sort of forecasted or looked at any potential impacts on the business up there.
Okay. Thanks.
All right.
Thank you. The next question comes from Allan Franklin from Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Morning, guys. Hey, John. Hey, Gavin. Good to see the free cash flow building on through. I just had a question on the January number and I guess just sort of reflecting on that and then sort of looking into February, March, April. Just sort of intrigued how you're thinking about the sort of balance of the or sorry, your experience of the balance of Chinese New Year and how you might be thinking about Easter being later this year versus last. If there are any other sort of particular months or periods we should think about, whether you're cycling a strong period or a weak period, please.
Yeah. Thanks, Alan. Yeah. I mean, I guess as we sort of outlined, January for the business was a solid month, particularly if we look across December and January over that sort of key sort of Christmas New Year period. We were pleased with how the business operated. We saw improved margins across the business with respect to Skydiving. We did see improved operating leverage across, and it really sort of highlighted the potential of that business when it is not hampered by weather. We saw it was a period where we saw both improved volumes and improved packs per load efficiencies. Certainly, relative to the first half performance, if we just sort of zero in on those two months, the margins were higher with the business unit closer to that sort of the 20% level overall relative to sort of the 12% that it reported in the first half.
That is encouraging. Certainly, as we have sort of outlined, a number of the measures that we have been implementing over time are starting to bear fruit and obviously will continue to do so and maintain that focus moving forward to accelerate the recovery of our skydive business. Obviously, in terms of Skydiving and overarching volume, the second half of the year is generally a bit stronger than the first half, with the first half of the year obviously having Q1, which is the winter, which is a seasonal low period. Obviously, we would expect that volumes might be a little bit stronger, half on half over the second half, with the China or the Lunar New Year period, which I will let John talk to, one of the key sort of periods within that trading timeframe.
Yeah. In terms of Lunar New Year, which sort of started at the back end of January and then went through, if you go to all the markets that are covered by Lunar New Year, goes through to about the middle of the month. I mean, what we've seen is certainly in New Zealand, we saw we had a good Lunar New Year from what we're seeing. I think importantly, in Australia, the way that we would describe it is that the underlying demand has been there, but there has been some more inclement weather, in particular in locations like North Queensland and also for Skydiving down in Victoria. What we saw in markets like Wollongong, where generally speaking, that's where the bulk of our Chinese tourists for the Skydive Australia segment will tend to gravitate towards.
We certainly saw that that business was on a PCP basis. The volume for February, we're seeing that it was up in double digits, so percentage terms, so around about, I think, around probably close to 20% on a year-on-year basis for that site particularly. In other locations like Byron Bay, we certainly had a strong response to the trading period, but it was more impacted by weather. In North Queensland for the Reef Unlimited, again, we saw Reef Magic responded well despite the fact that we had a number of days where we had to cancel operations because of the weather. What we're seeing in the market up there, though, is I guess a more aggressive targeting of group series, which we just don't go for because it's profitless volume. In some of our experiences, they probably will have a different outcome.
We're still waiting to see what the month holds to wrap that up. I think in terms of the other trading, the other important trading period for us will obviously be the April Easter and April school holiday period. That's the next important trading period for the business. If you think about in the first half, it was around about October and then December. In the second half, it's around January and April as those important trading periods.
Perhaps just on Adventure Experiences , obviously some strong cost control there and great incremental drop-through in that first half. Just moving forward, how to think about the sort of cost growth. Should we think it's sort of more aligned to revenue growth on a look-forward basis? Just when you do roll in the vessel, how does that sort of change operating costs or, as you're sort of alluding to, its incrementally or earnings flow through with that? Just sort of timing of that, it'll be in the numbers from April, so we can obviously think about a bit of growth helping FY 2026 Adventure Experiences , if that makes sense.
Yep. I mean, going back to Fran, just in respect to the vessel, John already talked through, I guess, some of the overarching economics around the purchase. Yeah, I guess it goes without saying that with those payback periods that John mentioned, there's an incremental drop-through of margin or earnings on top of what we've reported for the first half. Obviously, it'll take time to come through. I think it's due to be in service from the end of March, I think, is the targeted timeframe at this point. Yeah, that'll be on top of what we've done. In terms of, I guess, the broader cost and the margins of the business, I think if I look at Treetops, I guess what we saw across the half was growth in revenues.
If I look at unpack that a little bit, it was definitely growth volumes being driven by new attractions, which the Canberra site in particular has been, as I said earlier, performing really strongly. In terms of the balance of the sites, they have shown resilience across, albeit, I guess, without new attractions in the current economic environment, we'd currently expect them to trade at similar levels. I guess with the margin, the margin is generally around a similar level to what it's been historically. With the Reef, I think, as I said, the Reef margin is probably something similar as well, albeit we'd expect some absolute drop-through of earnings with the addition of the vessel.
Just a quick one on that vessel, sorry. I mean, just to the extent it's a purpose-built vessel, where did you source it from? And just the scale of that vessel versus what is in the market with competitors and, I guess, compared to your existing fleet?
Yep. We sourced it from private owners in North Queensland. It was a vessel that was built and commissioned, I think, at the end of 2022, 2023. It hasn't been operated commercially, so it's as new. That was after we looked around Australia for a number of other vessels. We looked at other, I guess, pre-used vessels, and we, in fact, passed on a number of vessels from other operators in the region or around Australia. We sourced it from up there. Look, the way that vessels work, Allan, is that they get surveyed, and they get surveyed to certain classes.
This has two—the great thing about this vessel, it has two survey types: one that allows us to use it for a ferry commuter vessel and another one that allows us to use it basically as a substitute or an additional vessel for some of our other operations up there. The operating capacity is anywhere from about 195 passengers and five crew to about 225 passengers and five crew. That for us is probably the ideal number. As I said before, we're not a business that chases some of the group series business, particularly out of the eastern markets, like some of our competitors do. That size vessel for us is right where we see the opportunity for the market, for the FIT market in particular. That's the way we're thinking about it.
The beauty of the vessel is that if we see additional demand for, just say, an outer reef cruise up in Port Douglas, we can deploy it up there to take advantage of that. Equally, as we've seen before with some of our services out of Cairns, there are times of the year where if we had another vessel of a similar size, we could deploy that to sell more experiences out of that market. It also opens up for there's quite a bit of business event activity that is becoming more of a trend up in North Queensland. It also gives you redundancy if you have a vessel breakdown.
I guess it's kind of like all of the above, and it's a similar operating capacity to probably 90% of our fleet, with the exception possibly of Big Cat, which is quite a large vessel that operates on the Green Island run.
Helpful. Thank you.
Thanks.
Thank you. The next question comes from Julian Mulcahy from E&P . Please go ahead.
John, can I ask about the mix of passengers you're seeing in the Skydiving business now? Are you kind of relying on the Chinese coming back in force to get back to sort of past margins?
Yeah. I think the way to think about the skydive customer base in Australia and also over in New Zealand, Julian, is there's a domestic component. There's, I guess, a rest-of-world component, which is primarily built out of your traditional backpacking markets like U.K., Germany, Italy, also markets like the U.S. And then you have your eastern markets, which are primarily built around, obviously, the Chinese market. I guess the way to think about it, where do we need to continue to build out to get back to where the business has been previously? I mean, obviously, China is a key stat, is a key part of that story, so we're focusing a lot of efforts on that market, but also the domestic market, particularly in Australia as well.
Whilst we've seen periods of really strong trading out of Australia, December and January, which are traditionally big months for that Australian customer, we probably haven't seen that demand as strong in other months. That's the area that we're working on. The backpacking market, that western market, is probably getting close to sort of 70% of the way back. That market is certainly progressing well. The two markets that we're really focusing on in that business unit are your Australian domestic market and then that eastern market in particular, the China market, but also Taiwan and also Hong Kong, which feature prominently as well.
Is there any strategy to get the proper motion or just to get the volumes through? I imagine the incremental margin on each passenger is pretty high.
Yeah, that's right. I certainly don't want to divulge too much to competitors that might be listening in. Certainly, within Australia, we think there's a lot of opportunity in the direct-to-consumer market. We've obviously, back during COVID, we've obviously invested in CRM technology. We're spending money on Google Search, AdWords, through social media. We'll probably start using more influencers as well to appeal to that market. Also, just sort of general presence within the local communities we operate in. Your inbound markets are a little different in that they're very much driven by, yes, there's a direct component, but they're very much driven by third-party distributors. For us, it's been really focusing on those inbound travel agents, the online travel agents, as well as some of the wholesalers in markets.
For example, next week, we'll have a Chief Commercial Officer will be in China as part of a tourism roadshow, basically building out those relationships. There are different strategies for different markets because the way they consume the experience is different.
Cool. Just on the adventure business, I mean, that's where you seem to be getting your best margins and returns. I hear that you, I mean, I guess you're buying the vessel, but are there any more sort of capital-light expansions you could do to continue to grow that business?
Yeah. Certainly, what we're doing at the moment is we're looking through. We think, as we've said before, we think there's a particularly good opportunity within Treetops Adventure for that. As we've seen with the Canberra site, I mean, we built that site for AUD 1.3 million-AUD 1.4 million. It'll have a payback period sort of within two to three years. We certainly see that organic rollout of that vertical has certainly got some opportunities. Also looking at, as we've alluded to before, I guess, increasing dwell time within the existing sites and working within the local sites on things like food and beverage, as well as increasing average revenue per customer, which is what we've spent a lot of time doing during the first half. We are just currently scoping out what parks we're able to put in additional attractions into.
We have seen already, for example, that reintroducing the Zipcoaster in the Central Coast has had a positive impact on momentum. We certainly think that philosophy of organic enhancement of that business unit is an opportunity. We have already done that on the reef, and I guess this is the second time we have done that post the Reef Magic Pontoon. Even within Skydive Australia, the teams are always on the lookout for either new drop zone locations or additional parachute landing areas so that the processing rate for that business unit particularly can improve so we can take advantage of that increasing underlying demand that is there.
All right. Are there any plans for zip lines in sort of metropolitan areas, CBD, to grip different segments?
Yeah. We're always open to that. I mean, it's increasingly one of the things we certainly learned is that it all comes down to, I guess, the malleability of the local government authorities and landlords. Certainly, what we've found with Trees is that local councils, private landowners, forestry departments generally have a you're able to get things done more quickly. We're always open to those ideas. We have got an urban-based version of that vertical up at Sunshine Plaza at Maroochydore. Look, that has a higher capital cost. There is certainly that option, I guess, to look at that. Primarily, where we're looking at pipelines and organic growth in that business unit is enhancing existing sites, increasing dwell time, and then looking at other locations that complement where its existing footprint is.
Yeah. We're right down here in Victoria, so I'm sure the government would rather scan any idea.
That's right. You'd think so. We are looking at Victoria and Southeast Queensland as priority locations to expand to be here.
Cool. Thanks, John.
Thanks.
Thank you. The next question comes from Charlie Kingston from K Capital. Please go ahead. Charlie, I have unmuted you, and please proceed with your question.
Yes. Can you hear me? Thank you.
Yes.
Thanks, John. Just a few quick questions. Firstly, around the strategic review that did not amount to anything, I suppose. I think we were trading around AUD 0.13-AUD 0.14 prior to that, or a bit higher, actually, prior to the announcement. Compared to where we are today, obviously, it is a bit awkward if nobody wanted to buy the business privately. For listed market participants, it is a bit of an awkward proposition. Can you just provide some more color around that strategic review? Was there a bid for the entire company at a higher price than what we are trading at today with a strong interest in particular segments of the business? I would appreciate any color that you can share around that. Maybe, are you looking to sell divisions? Is there an ongoing process, or what is the status, please?
Thanks, Charlie. That's good to hear from you. Look, I think we've been through that. I think we've been through the results of the strategic review. Those materials are published online in our investor relations section of our website. We went through it during the AGM, and we've also briefed institutional shareholders on the outcomes of that. I think the overarching feedback, you might see it as being embarrassing. I guess we find it as being, well, we don't sort of see it that way. We sort of saw that there are a lot of learnings that we took from it. The overarching feedback was that the platform was good and that there were interesting assets within it. I think we've been through all that and prosecuted all of that.
I don't think that it deserves any further time to sort of go over that or really talk about where the share price was or where the share price is. We're just really focusing on operating the business, which was underlying with the key feedback that came out of it was deliver on the operating improvements of the business. That's really what's going to drive value for your shareholders and other things. As for portfolio composition, look, our board's always open to that. We've proven that since FY 2019 when we went through quite a radical reshape of the business. Like any company, we constantly review that. I'm sure that answers your questions.
Yes. Thank you. On a positive note, well done on the free cash flow. That is very good to see that it is finally translating. That is great. Is it fair to annualize that half number to circa 9? I am not sure what the seasonality is. I suppose if 9 million for an annualized figure is fair, the enterprise value of the company today is around about AUD 90 million. 10x post-tax free cash flow seems very cheap. Are you looking at any capital management to return that free cash flow to shareholders, dividends, or potentially buying back the stock given we are still trading at AUD 0.12? Is there a free cash flow target going forward, noting the historical target of, what was it, AUD 40 million EBITDA?
Is there a free cash flow target that you could put out to the market so we get a sense of what your aspirations are, please?
Yeah. I mean, going back to front, I guess just in terms of the target, I mean, we're not providing specific guidance. I think what we're focused on is just providing color around the underlying improvement in the business. I mean, we certainly saw that in the first half. We remain focused on that for the second half. In terms of the deployment of that free cash, I guess that's something that John and I can work through with the board. As you've seen, we've got a combination of undrawn funds in the debt facility and then improving free cash. I guess, like all businesses, we go through the options with the board. I guess we select the options that we feel are the best at that point in time based on the information at hand.
Okay. So nothing currently being discussed, rebuyback or dividends?
We will make those sort of announcements with Charlie in line with continuous disclosure obligations, which I'm sure you'll appreciate. Next question, operator .
Thank you. The next question comes from David Kingston from K Capital. Please go ahead.
Good morning, John. How are you?
Great, David.
Look, just a couple of quick ones, John. Look, you raised capital at AUD 0.33 a while ago. Appreciate there've been some challenges. As a shareholder, significant shareholder, I would have thought it's more appropriate to look to pay dividends soon, particularly for shareholders who paid AUD 0.33 rather than too much focus on growth. Secondly, John, Wild Bush, I'm not sure how big it is, but certainly, it's a small business. In my opinion, it would be good to let go of some of the small businesses, which are arguably a distraction. Finally, John, you continue to say that the board is hopeful of returning to the earlier target of AUD 40 million EBITDA. Do you have a timeline for that, John? Just those three quick issues, please.
I think, David, as we said earlier, just going back to front, as we've said earlier, in terms of that underlying earnings target of AUD 40 million, we originally sort of thought that that might be sometime during the 2025 calendar year. We think that that's probably going to be pushed out now in line with where the inbound recovery is going to be and obviously the domestic recovery issues as well, which have always been highlighted as key sensitivities. I think that's currently where we're sitting on that particular issue. On Wild Bush Luxury, I think we answered this in Charlie's question. We're always looking at the portfolio composition. I'll just leave it there. On the capital management, that's something that we'll constantly discuss with the board.
John, I understood that the AUD 40 million has been turned out from 2025. Can you give us any guidance? Is it 2026 now?
Look, we're not providing any guidance, David. We just think the two key sensitivities are, as we've said before, inbound recovery, which has been pushed out, and also the domestic sensitivity. The business hasn't provided guidance before. We don't intend to now. As I said, we've pushed that AUD 40 million target out by sort of 12 months or so. We'll review that at the end of the financial year.
Okay. No, that's fine. All I'd say in conclusion is, from a shareholder value point of view, John, and fortunately, I bought some at a fairly cheap price, but I do think you've raised a lot of money at high prices. Those shareholders have had no dividend. I do think it's important to look after the shareholders who are supporting you. Other than that, thank you. Good to see you've got some positive cash flow, John.
Thanks, David. Always good to chat.
Thank you, John.
Thank you, David.
Thank you. The next question comes from Lara Keena from Lara Keena Limited. Please go ahead.
Hi, Lara here. I just had a quick question. I know you said that a lot of the efficiencies came from the optimization in the network, and two of those being Skydive being drop zones, so into care and maintenance. Is there a strategy for kind of following on to David's question, actually, for some of those smaller businesses to go into care and maintenance or be sold off? Is that any of the discussions that have been happening?
Look, I think I've answered this a couple of times, Lara. Thanks for the question. The board are managing or always reviewing the portfolio composition of the company. That's probably the best way to answer that question. I mean, the decision around the Skydiving sites was around optimization of the network and also the ability to redeploy some capital assets in locations that were more appropriate. It was a little different in the decision tree. Look, we're always looking at the portfolio composition. We've done that since FY 2019. Like any business, it's constantly under review.
Thanks very much.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to thank yourself, would you like me to remind for more questions?
No, we're all good. Thank you.
There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. O'Sullivan for closing remarks. Over to you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy your day. Thank you for your time. Goodbye.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Thank you.