Vail Resorts continued its march toward higher efficiency in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, with Mountain revenue decreasing 4.8%, from $32.3 million to $30.8 million this year. However, Mountain expense decreased $7.1 million, or 11.7%, to $53.3 million. Lodging revenue for the quarter grew $3.3 million, or 7.8%, to $45.8 million. Lodging expense increased $1.4 million, or 3.2%, to $44.2 million.

Resort revenue, the combination of Mountain and Lodging revenues, rose $1.8 million, or 2.3%, to $76.5 million.

Resort expense decreased $5.7 million, or 5.5%, to $97.5 million. Total revenue, which also includes real estate, increased $3.4 million, or 4.2%, to $83.1 million, and total operating expense decreased $6.7 million, or 5.0%, to $126.7 million. As is usually the case in the off-season, the decrease pulled the resort conglomerate into the red for the quarter, with a fourth quarter net loss of $36.3 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $33.7 million, or 96 cents per diluted share, for the year-ago period.

The 2004 fiscal year painted a different story. Mountain revenue was $500.4 million, a $36.3 million, or 7.8%, increase from $464.1 million for the comparable period last year. Mountain expense increased $2.5 million, or 0.7%, to $369.0 million. Lodging revenue for the fiscal year grew $10.4 million, or 6.3%, to $176.3 million. Lodging expense increased $6.2 million, or 4.0%, to $161.1 million.

Full Year Resort revenue rose $46.8 million, or 7.4%, to $676.8 million, and Resort expense increased 1.7% to $530.1 million, up $8.7 million.

Income from operations for the fiscal year improved $47.3 million, or 137.2%, to $81.8 million compared to $34.5 million for the same period last year. Even with the increased efficiency in the fourth quarter, Vail posted a $6.0 million net loss for the fiscal year, or 17 cents per diluted share. The loss does represent an improvement compared to last year’s net loss of $8.5 million, or a loss of 24 cents per diluted share.

Year-to-date lift ticket sales at all of Vail’s resorts increased 8.6% to $213.1 million even while total skier visits decreased 1.6%. This reflects an effective cost increase of 10.4% per visit. The resorts’ rental program revenues increased 6.8% to $115.0 million. Heavenly and Beaver Creek were the group’s only two resorts to post increases in skiers visits, up 3.0% and 7.1% respectively.

Sales of season passes and other advance purchase products for the 2004/2005 ski season are currently running up 25.7% year-over-year in Colorado. Bookings made into Vail Resorts central reservations are up 7.3% over this time last year, and airline capacity into the Vail/Eagle airport is up 3.5%.