Vail Resorts Results Tumbled in Fiscal 2009

News Search

24 September 2009

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine-Broomfield, Colo., Sept. 24, 2009-Vail Resorts reported net income of $49 million for fiscal 2009, down 52 percent from $103 million in 2008. For the year, skier visits fell 5 percent, and ticket revenue was off 8 percent. On the bright side, season pass sales rose by 12 percent, and pass revenue was up 22 percent.

CEO Rob Katz said, "I am pleased that Vail Resorts was able to deliver solid results for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2009, given the unprecedented economic environment and its impact on the travel and leisure sectors." He noted that cost controls helped keep the decline from being worse than it was, and that customer satisfaction improved despite the expense cuts.

Season pass revenue as a percent of total lift ticket revenue grew from 26 percent in 2007-08 to 34 percent for 2008-09. "Our ancillary business revenue lines, including ski school, dining and retail/rental, experienced greater percentage declines than our lift ticket revenue variance," Katz added, "due to the combination of lower destination visitation and lower average guest spend during their stay." Ski school revenue decreased 20 percent, dining revenue was down 16 percent (with an 11 percent decrease in on-mountain transactions and a greater decline in fine dining), and retail/rental were off 13 percent. In lodging, revenue per available room was down 11 percent.

Looking forward to 2009/2010, Katz said, "We are very pleased with our advance period season pass sales for our upcoming 2009/2010 ski season." Through Sept. 20, total season pass sales were up approximately 15 percent in dollars and 14 percent in units; in the prior year, this period accounted for 55 percent of total pass sales.

Katz predicted that VR would see revenue gains across its resort business groups (mountain and lodging segments) in fiscal 2010 due to a "more stable macro economic environment." However, he noted that real estate activity will decline, "given the type and number of units closed in fiscal 2009 as compared to anticipated closings for fiscal 2010." He provided guidance of $25 million to $35 million for net fiscal 2010 revenue.