Join our daily newsletter At The Bell to receive exclusive market insights
- Film company Vista Group (VGL) has so far not felt any significant impacts from COVID-19
- The company said it is focusing on the long term, sustainable success of the business, with three key priorities; staff, customers and strong balance sheet
- To even the balance sheet, Directors have reduced their fees by 30 per cent.
- The CEO and senior leadership have also volunteered to reduce their salary by 30 per cent
- Vista is down 31.9 per cent on the market this afternoon, selling shares for $1.02 apiece
Film company Vista Group (VGL) has so far not felt any significant impacts from the COVID-19.
The impact of the virus on the film industry around the globe, however, has been substantial, with cinemas in many countries temporarily closing.
Vista has confirmed that its film businesses, MACCS, Powster, and Numero, has so far been immune to the pandemic.
The company said it is focusing on the long term sustainable success of the business, with three key priorities; staff, customers and a strong balance sheet.
Vista says supporting its staff in all countries is important. During the pandemic, staff have been working from home, which the company says has been very productive.
In the meantime, Vista is working closely with its customers, each of whom represents a wide variety of circumstances.
In Europe, Vista has seen a small number of customers reach out to accelerate initiatives whilst their cinemas are closed. In China, several customers are re-opening their cinemas with new content. Meanwhile, in the USA and Asia, a number of customers have asked for Vista to help them by varying their payment terms.
Balance Sheet
The company said it will be implementing strategies to statin its strong balance sheet position.
To help the balance sheet, Directors have reduced their fees by 30 per cent. The CEO and senior leadership have volunteered to reduce their salary by 30 per cent.
In turn, staff across Vista have been asked to reduce their hours. Over 50 per cent have agreed to do so by at least 20 per cent.
Chief Executive Kimbal Riley said the health and wellbeing of its people globally remains at the forefront of Vista’s priorities.
“In almost all cases they are living in cities which are under some form of lock-down, and it is a testament to the capacity and resilience of our people that they continue to perform under these unprecedented circumstances,” he said.
“We believe that we are taking the appropriate actions to continue to support our customers across the globe. We review our cost base daily and will take further measures should that become required,” he added.
As cinemas re-open across the world, Vista believes there will be significant demand for its software and services.
Vista is down 31.9 per cent on the market this afternoon, selling shares for $1.02 apiece at 2:42 pm AEDT.
