EVT Hospitality and Entertainment has seen a significant rise in its earnings over the first half of the 2023 financial year, with record results for its Thredbo and hotel divisions.
The group generated $606.8 million in normalised revenue – a 38.5% ($168.8 million) jump on the year before, while normalised EBITDA came in at $107.7 million, which was 68.2% higher than the first half of FY22 and only 17.9% below the pre-COVID first half in 2019.
“The record results achieved for Thredbo and hotels…underline the benefits of the group’s strategy,” Chief Executive Officer Jane Hastings explained.
“The half-year result included a record hotels and resorts result on a like-for-like basis, adjusting for the upgrade-related closure of Rydges Melbourne, and a record result for Thredbo, up 41.2% on the previous record first half result for 1H19.”
The “outstanding” results for Thredbo were achieved in spite of a challenging summer season, which included snowfall in both December and February.
Hastings attributed the upswing to Thredbo’s new business model, which focuses on “better capacity utilisation and delivering a premium experience”.
The group’s hotel network grew by five hotels and 354 rooms in the half year, with Lylo Auckland, EVT’s flagship new budget hotel concept, trading “ahead of expectations” since opening in December.
Hastings expects EVT to continue on its positive trajectory throughout the second half of the 2023 financial year, taking into account headwinds such as energy cost increases and other inflationary cost increases.
