Vail Resorts, Inc. said its rental/retail operations generated $61.0 million in revenue in the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2010, up 3% from the same quarter a year earlier.
Season-to-date through March 7, those revenues rose 5.5%. Still, the company said the late start of the winter season at its many Colorado resorts will make it difficult to reach the upper end of EBITDA guidance it issued in September.
The increase of $1.8 million was primarily due to higher retail sales and rental volumes at the Company’s Vail and Breckenridge mountain resort stores and San Francisco Bay area stores.
That compared to a 1.9% increase in lift tickets sales, 3.8% rise in ski school sales, a 2.4% decline in dining revenues and a 9.9% decline in other revenues at the companyâ€s Mountain Segment. Total mountain segment revenues rose 1.0% to $261.0 million during the quarter.
EBITDA for the mountain segment reached $107.2 million, up 3.6% from the same quarter a year earlier due to an increase in our season pass revenue and cost reduction initiatives implemented during the second half of the prior fiscal year.
Retail cost of sales declined 3.8% to $23.7 million during the quarter, or 38.9% of rental/retail sales.
Vail Resorts said skier visit rose 0.1% during the quarter to 2.78 million from the year earlier quarter, while effective ticket price slipped 1.7% to $46.56. The company’s subsidiaries operate the mountain resort properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado, the Heavenly Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“I am pleased with how we have performed so far this season, particularly given the low early season snowfall levels at our Colorado resorts and a still challenging economy,†said Rob Katz, CEO for Vail Resorts. â€While current conditions at all of our resorts are terrific, snowfall in the earlier part of the ski season was at thirty year lows at our Colorado resorts, leading to a 1.6% decline in visitation at our Colorado resorts when compared to the prior year, though our overall visitation was up 0.1% due to increased visitation at Heavenly.â€
Katz said that Vail Mountain visitation was the most impacted because the resort could not open the vast majority of the back bowls until after Christmas. Lift ticket revenue increased 1.9% during the quarter due to a 6.2% increase in season pass revenue, partially offset by a reduction in other lift ticket revenue, he added.
â€The increase in season pass revenue was generated on overall flat visitation from season pass holders and lower visits per pass, demonstrating the value of the program, even in periods of challenging snow conditions,†said Katz. â€Also encouraging was the improvement we saw in guest spending in our ski school and retail/rental operations, which realized revenue increases of 3.8% and 3.0%, respectively.â€
Season to date total skier visits at the company’s five mountain resorts were up 0.4% for the season to date period through March 7, 2010 compared to the prior year season to date period ending March 8, 2009. Lift ticket revenue during the same period, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 1.6% compared to the prior year season to date period ending March 8, 2009, while ski school and retail/rental revenues rose 3.8% and 5.5%, respectively.
Vail Resorts, Inc.
Consolidated Condensed Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
January 31,
2010 2009
---- ----
Net revenue:
Mountain $260,978 $258,489
Lodging 38,676 41,150
Real estate 870 89,157
----------- --- ------
Total net revenue 300,524 388,796
Segment operating expense:
Mountain 154,018 156,188
Lodging 37,788 38,697
Real estate 7,417 59,508
----------- ----- ------
Total segment operating expense 199,223 254,393
Other operating (expense) income:
Depreciation and amortization (27,772) (27,438)
Gain (loss) on disposal of fixed
assets, net 12 (422)
-------------------------------- --- ----
Income from operations 73,541 106,543
Mountain equity investment income,
net 207 1,161
Investment income 192 336
Interest expense, net (4,148) (7,295)
--------------------- ------ ------
Income before provision for income
taxes 69,792 100,745
Provision for income taxes (24,713) (36,412)
-------------------------- ------- -------
Net income 45,079 64,333
Net income attributable to
noncontrolling interests (4,389) (3,788)
========================== ====== ======
Net income attributable to Vail
Resorts, Inc. $40,690 $60,545
