Resorts' Real Estate Results Drag Down Earnings

VAIL, CO-Slower real estate sales, which were anticipated, dragged down Vail Resorts Inc.’s third-quarter performance. Revenues for Vail Resorts, excluding real estate revenues, rose 10.3% to $242.4 million.

When real estate revenues are included, revenues rose 9.2% to $246.9 million.

Real estate revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2002 was $4.5 million compared to $6.4 million during the same period of the prior year, a 29.4% decrease due to fully anticipated timing of land sales.

The real estate operating loss for the quarter was $1 million, compared to an operating loss of $800,000 in the same period of fiscal 2001.

Total skier visits during the quarter were down 3.4% to 2.6 million, and did reflect an improvement to the year-over-year skier day performance of the fiscal second quarter.

Vail Resorts’ subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly Resort in California and Nevada and the Grand Teton Lodge Co. in Jackson Hole, WY. In addition, the company’s Rockresorts luxury resort hotel company operates 11 resort hotels throughout the US.

“Vail Resorts is coming off our best ever quarter financially,” says Adam Aaron, Vail’s president and CEO. ”Our results for this recent quarter, and for that matter the whole ski season, exceeded even our wildest expectations given the challenges the whole of the world’s travel industry has faced this year in light of the Sept. 11 tragedy.”