Vail Resorts reports Q4 net loss Wednesday October 5, 1:36 pm ET
Costs related to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and other regulatory issues hurt Vail Resorts Inc.'s performance in its fourth quarter.
But excluding some charges, the company lost less than Wall Street analysts predicted.
For the period ended July 31, the Colorado ski resort owner reported a loss of $36.4 million, or $1 per share. The company had about the same size loss for the same quarter last year -- $36.3 million, or $1.03 a share.
Excluding charges for retiring debt early and losses from selling some of its businesses, Vail Resorts' fourth-quarter loss amounted to $27.7 million, or 76 cents a share. Analysts polled by financial information provider Thomson Financial projected a 90 cent loss.
Operating costs attributed to regulatory issues rose to $138.2 million from $108.7 million the same period last year.
The U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, in response to the Enron and WorldCom financial scandals. The law is designed to protect stockholders and the general public from accounting mistakes and illegal business practices, largely by defining which corporate records need to be stored and how long.
Vail Resorts' fourth-quarter revenue rose 38 percent to $120 million from $87.1 million a year earlier.
Based in the Colorado mountain town of Vail, Vail Resorts owns this state's Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone ski areas. It also owns Heavenly near Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border.
The company's RockResorts subsidiary manages luxury hotels across the United States.
Vail Resorts trades on the New York Stock Exchange using the symbol MTN.
For all of its fiscal 2005, Vail Resorts had earnings of $23.1 million, or 64 cents a share, on revenue of $737.2 million. Those results barely beat Wall Street's projected 63-cent profit.
For fiscal 2006, the company anticipates earnings of $34 million to $43 million. Analysts think the company will post 90 cents a share in earnings next year.
Published October 5, 2005 by The Denver Business Journal
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