DENVER-
Ski resort operator Vail Resorts Inc. on Monday reported a 23 percent increase in second-quarter earnings, bolstered by strong real estate sales and more visitors to its Colorado slopes.
The company also said lodging revenue rose 2.2 percent, which put resort revenue—a combination of on-mountain and lodging businesses—up 9.5 percent.
The results for the quarter ending Jan. 31 provided a snapshot of how the ski season is progressing for Vail Resorts, which operates four resorts in Colorado and a fifth in California. Its stock rose 6 percent in trading.
Net income totaled $53 million, or $1.35 per share, compared with $43 million, or $1.12 per share, in the previous year’s fiscal second quarter.
Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, Vail Resorts said net income would have been $54.1 million, or $1.38 a share, compared with net income of $44.1 million, or $1.15 a share, in the previous year’s second quarter.
Revenue in the most recent quarter increased 25 percent to $361 million from $288 million a year ago.
The company reports revenue in three segments: mountain, which includes on-slope businesses, up 10.5 percent to $272 million; lodging, up 2.2 percent to $32.8 million; and real estate, up 479 percent to $56.2 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast overall revenue of $317.7 million.
Vail shares rose $3.33 to close at $58.33 on the New York Stock Exchange after briefly rising to a 52-week high of $59.32. In the past year, the shares have traded between $33.58 a share and $56.57 a share.
In the first six months, Vail reported net income of $17.2 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with $8.7 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago six-month period. Revenue rose to $474.5 million up from $373.4 million a year earlier.
Skier visits, totaled 2.9 million in the second quarter, up 1.3 percent from the previous year despite adverse weather conditions that contributed to a 6.2 percent drop in skier visits at Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe, Calif.,
Skier visits were up 4.8 percent in Colorado excluding season pass holders, although the total for Vail ski resort dropped 3.7 percent to 725,000 which was attributed to winter weather problems.
A skier visit is an industry measure equal to one person buying a lift ticket and using it to ski or snowboard.
Season pass sales were up 20 percent from the same period in 2006 and the effective ticket price rose 7 percent, Chief Executive Officer Rob Katz said.
For the full year, Katz forecast net income of $55 million to $63 million.
Vail Resorts reduced its 2007 guidance for real estate earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortization to zero to a loss of $5 million. Katz attributed the change to additional, unanticipated costs on development of the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club in Wyoming and the Arrabelle condominium development in Vail.
During a conference call with analysts, he said the additional cost stemmed from problems in coordinating design and construction.
“I don’t think the company had the right processes in place at the beginning of both of those projects to kind of effectively implement the design,” he said. “Those processes have completely been revamped.”
Vail Resorts owns and operates Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge ski areas in Colorado, Heavenly in Nevada and California, and the lodge near Jackson, Wyo.
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