Village Roadshow extends trading halt, promises local content focus

Josh McDonnell
By Josh McDonnell | 11 July 2018
 

Village Roadshow has extended its trading halt a further 24 hours as the company continues to scrabble to generate further capital to curb its debt.

In an investor presentation, the company revealed further plans to increase profitability and boost its cash flow problems.

Greater investment in local content was a focal point of its distribution strategy, which is housed under the Roadshow Entertainment side of the business.

The company stated that greater investment in areas such as TV production was essential, pointing to the recent, Logie award-winning Stan drama, Romper Stomper, which Roadshow had a hand in developing, as an example.

Roadshow acknowledged that international box office purchases, which failed to deliver in the local market was also an issue, coupled with the ongoing battle against film and television piracy.

As a result, the company will lower the level of investment into "expensive overseas productions" and will bolster its efforts in developing ongoing piracy initiatives and increase site blocking.

The company's Marketing Solutions platforms, edge, which operates in APAC and OPIA, which services the US and Europe are also areas of the business that require "cost management" strategies.

How this will be managed by the company could prove tricky, when it also highlighted a need to inject more funds into "marketing technology".

Priorities for this area of the business will centre around ensuring recent investments in its sales and support team yield the anticipated results, while increasing both platform's international presence, mainly in Asia and the US.

The company entered a trading halt earlier this week, following news that it had begun the sale of significant company assets, including its Wet 'n' Wild water theme park.

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