Vail Resorts posted its third straight record year last year, with net revenue up 3.6 percent to $838.9 million, due in part to strong skier visits last winter.
For the fiscal year ended July 31, Vail Resorts’ net income nearly doubled to $45.8 million, from $23.1 million a year ago.
Skier visits at Vail Resorts’ five mountains – Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek and Breckenridge in Colorado, and Heavenly in California – were up a combined 5.9 percent last winter, with 6.3 million people hitting the slopes. Revenue from lift-ticket sales grew 12.7 percent, to $263 million.
“This kind of sustained performance is truly the realization of the many improvements we have made to our mountains and our emphasis on world-class service levels,” chief executive Rob Katz said in a conference call Thursday with analysts.
Looking to the upcoming winter, Broomfield-based Vail Resorts said season-pass sales are up 22 percent over last year. Advance bookings through its central reservations system are up 24 percent in room nights and 32 percent in sales dollars versus the same point last year.
But Katz warned analysts not to read too much into those numbers, saying that while “it is still too early to draw any firm conclusions, some of our early-season metrics are showing positive trends.”
Vail Resorts declined to say how much a single-day lift ticket would cost this winter. Last season, a full-priced adult lift ticket was $81 at Vail and Beaver Creek.
Eric Brown, an industry analyst with Bank of America Securities, called the results strong in a research note and increased his fiscal 2007 forecast for the company.
Katz said the company is interested in acquiring other ski resorts but declined to say if it is looking at Steamboat, which was put on the market in July by owner American Skiing Co.
“We look at consolidation as part of our strategic plan,” Katz said. “We’re certainly always on the lookout for resorts we can buy.”
Initial bids for Steamboat were due Wednesday. Sales documents sent to potential investors and obtained by The Denver Post suggest that the ski area could be valued at as much as $275 million.
For fiscal 2006, Vail Resorts’ mountain revenue grew 14.7 percent, to $620.4 million. Lodging revenue dropped by 20.6 percent, to $155.8 million, due in part to the sale of three hotel properties over the past two years.
For the fiscal fourth quarter – when ski areas traditionally lose money because their mountains are closed to skiers – Vail Resorts saw its net loss improve from $36.4 million last year to $31.3 million this year. Revenue rose to $124 million, up $4 million.
Vail Resorts’ stock closed Thursday at $40, up 28 cents.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
