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of 40 cents per share have also been paid (25 cents per share was paid in December 2013 comprising a capital return of 12 cents per share and a fully-franked distribution of 13 cents per share). A further fully-franked special dividend of 15 cents per share was paid to shareholders in July 2014 and the VRL Board has also declared a fully-franked final dividend of 14 cents per share in relation to the 2014 financial year, which was paid to shareholders in October 2014. 

Summary details of the Company’s financial performance for the past two years are shown in the table below, and for the past five years are shown in the Additional Information section on page 76 of this Annual Report. 

## MILESTONES AND HIGHLIGHTS 

2014 has been a year where VRL continued to actively explore opportunities to use its core expertise in new and emerging markets, helping drive VRL’s market leadership in all segments in which we operate. This has been the underlying life blood of the Company’s growth honed over many years. A number of significant milestones and highlights have been achieved in the 2014 financial year. 

VRL was able to produce a strong second half-year increase in EBITDA of 20% and a 31% increase in profit before tax excluding material items and discontinued operations (“PBT”) compared to the prior corresponding half- year, once again demonstrating the resilience and robust condition of VRL’s businesses. This improvement in the underlying operating results was made possible through strong film content and the successful delivery of a number of cost control initiatives whilst making significant investments for future growth. 

In addition to the successful launch of Wet’n’Wild Sydney previously mentioned, Village Roadshow Theme Parks (“VRTP”) delivered a record full year EBITDA result of $105.6 million (up $14.3 million) in the year ended 30 June 2014 excluding one-off costs ($9.0 million) associated with the opening of Wet’n’Wild Sydney and the contribution to the joint ‘Theme Park Capital’ marketing campaign with the Queensland Government. Overall income across all parks was $336.3 million, up 12.7% on the prior year’s result on the back of solid overall attendances and in-park spend, whilst PBT of $33.1 million was up $2.4 million compared to the prior year. 

VRTP divested the Pheonix and Hawaii water parks in November 2013 in order to concentrate on its expansion program in China and South East Asia. 

We are pleased with the progress we have made during the year in further developing strong relationships with key local partners in the pursuit of the Company’s China/South East Asia theme parks strategy and the signing of 

a number of significant agreements. This strategy is a combination of leveraging the Company’s unique management expertise with a conservative investment strategy in alliance with key local and international partners. More details on this initiative follow later on page 04 in this report, and it is envisioned that this will be truly transformational for the VRL group. 

The Cinema Exhibition division produced a further very strong increase of 8.3% in PBT following a record in the previous year, with a strong performance by Village Cinemas Australia and by the Company’s Golden Village cinema circuit in Singapore. Refurbishments and upgrades of cinema sites for our cinema patrons continued, and the higher yield premium offerings of Gold Class and  won over more customers. 

The Film Distribution division, Roadshow Films, bolstered its market leadership with the renewal of significant film output agreements with key suppliers and, given the soft first half, turned in a respectable PBT of $34.8 million for the year, down 8.3% on last year’s result. 

In the realisation of all these ventures, we carry with us our founder Roc Kirby’s eternal philosophy of always being a dynamic, forward-thinking Company but at the same time “never putting the ship at risk”. 

## AUSTRALIAN THEME PARKS 

VRTP is Australia’s leading theme park developer and owner and one of the pre-eminent theme park operators in the world. With parks in both Sydney and Queensland’s Gold Coast, VRTP delivers unrivalled and ground-breaking rides, slides, entertainment, attractions, facilities and dining to all our ventures; and with a vision to always bring ‘world’s first’ and ‘world’s best’ experiences to all our customers. 

In Australia VRTP produced a strong EBITDA of $84.5 million in the 2014 financial year excluding the one-off costs, up from $83.5 million in the previous year, with the continuation of the successful ‘VIP’ pass strategy. The division also invested in the ‘Gold Coast Theme Park Capital of Australia’ industry marketing campaign, and successfully launched the Carnivale special event at Warner Bros. Movie World. 

The Gold Coast Theme Parks division includes the house-hold names of Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Wet’n’Wild Gold 

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