STC announces profit

Times have changed at the Sydney Theatre Company, which has announced an impressive profit.

At its Annual General Meeting this week, the Sydney Theatre Company announced an operating profit of $919,860 for 2010, the Company’s second consecutive surplus (the 2009 result was $607,167).

Releasing the Company’s Annual Report, Chairman David Gonski said: “This excellent result for Sydney Theatre Company reflects a remarkable artistic year, the second programmed by Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett. I’m delighted that while the Company has been highly successful at the box office, there has also been significant investment by STC in the development of artists and audiences. Combined with the surplus generated in 2009, the 2010 result does much to improve the Company’s balance sheet, enabling us to plan a range of investments in our business operations, productions and technical equipment. It also helps us to build a secure base in order to safeguard the future of the Company.”

The Company’s operating profit of $919,860 does not include a further $703,286 which has been received in advance to be expended on the Company’s Greening The Wharf project in 2011.

For statutory purposes, this figure is also included in the Company’s 2010 recorded result: a total profit of $1,623,146.

A bonanza year at the box office, STC’s attendances reached 302,633 in Sydney and 362,918 overall. The Main Stage season attracted 20,176 Season Ticket holders, of whom 4,226 had never previously held a Season Ticket to STC. There was a high retention rate (75%) of Season Ticket Holders from the previous year.