Ardent Leisure shares hit seven-year low

The share price of Dreamworld owners Ardent Leisure has tumbled around 20% in the past week, from highs of $1.62 on 4th March to as low as $1.29 at the time of writing.

As reported by theme park enthusiasts website Parkz, the drop in share price over the past week has wiped some $140 million in share value for the company

While Ardent's shares have been trending downward since the Thunder River Rapids incident claimed the lives of four riders in September 2016, it is the lowest share price for the group since July 2012 when the company was steadily emerging from global financial downturns that saw the price topple to under a dollar in years prior.

The current dip ahs not been as a result of any investor announcements or changes to holdings by major shareholders.

However, it does follow an announcement came from Dreamworld on Friday that the popular WipeOut ride would be retired to be replaced by a "chill space featuring shading and seating".

The attraction had been affected by maintenance issues for a number of years despite lengthy maintenance periods and an assurance from Dreamworld executives in late-2017 that the attraction had at least 10 years life remaining at Dreamworld based on an audit from engineering firm Pitt & Sherry.

Pitt & Sherry are retained by Dreamworld to perform "independent mechanical, structural and electrical engineering and safety review" of their rides and attractions.

Then Chief Executive of Dreamworld Craig Davidson told Parkz in November 2017 "What we've done with all of our infrastructure with Pitt & Sherry is we've asked them to do a term of life assessment ... what they found is that we have a term of life on the Wipeout which is at least another 10 years."

Following the announcement of the removal of the WipeOut, enthusiasts hit out at Dreamworld on social media.

Parkz's Richard Wilson wrote "investors have seemingly followed public sentiment with the dramatic drop in Ardent's share price in recent days."

Prior to two of its investors joining the Ardent Leisure board in late 2017, investment group Ariadne called for an investment of $25 million in new attractions at Dreamworld.