Vail Resorts said Tuesday its loss widened in the fiscal first quarter, typically a weak period before the start of ski season, as summer lodging sales sagged.
The stock went downhill, sliding more than 10 percent as the company said that at the end of November, advance lodging bookings at Vail’s owned and managed properties were down 13 percent compared with the same time last year.
Broomfield-based Vail said it lost $41.2 million, or $1.14 a share, in the first quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $34.5 million, or 93 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue plunged 47 percent, to $80.8 million from $152.8 million, which the company attributed to the timing of real-estate closings.
The company said first-quarter results are usually weak because mountain ski resorts aren’t yet open and results are driven by summer lodging and golf. Lodging revenue was off 9 percent, to $41.4 million compared with $45.3 million a year ago.
The company said it was encouraged by an 11 percent increase in season-pass sales volume.
The Associated Press; Austin-American Statesman photo
