2009 Annual Report due 12th November

CafeFantasia · September 27, 2009, 09:25:48 PM

Original title: Disneyland Resort Paris - Current Financial Situation?

What's the current financial situation of the resort? As a Disneyland Paris fan, people often ask me how the resort is doing now? And, to be honest, I don't really know.

Disneyland Park itself is hugely popular, but surely the resort as a whole is still in debt. The question is, by how much? Are they slowly getting out of debt, or are they stuck with the same amount and not making any progress?

Is there an end in sight?

Willow · September 27, 2009, 10:15:49 PM

Disclaimer: I am not financial expert :wink:

In 2007 the current borrowings stood at 2004.4 Million Euros (So a little over 2 billion Euros)
There is also a set plan on how much will be payed back each year. The target is to reduce the debt to around 1.5 billion Euros after the 2012 fiscial year.

I think, the resort is doing fine financially, its just the huge levels of debt which aren't great.
I seem to remember reading that the plan is to have debt at zero in 2020-2030. (The loans for Disneyland Parc seem to mature in 2023 and the Studios loans mature a couple of years later)

The next Annual report should also be out within a month which will give a good idea about how the resort is performing financially. (21st October)

Further details can be found on the corporate website, under investor relations.

http://corporate.disneylandparis.com

There is also THIS document which seems to have pretty comprehensive details on when loans will be paid back.

CafeFantasia · September 27, 2009, 11:34:43 PM

Thanks a lot for all that information. Wow.

What I don't understand is, Disney recently bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. So why can't they acquire Euro Disney; buy the whole thing back and solve all of their debt problems? They really seem to have messed up priorities.

dagobert · September 28, 2009, 10:28:39 AM

I think I've read somewhere that there are restrictions by the French government on how much Disney is allowed to hold on Euro Disney SCA. Maybe TWDC could acquire the 10% of Prince Alwaleed.

The whole structure of the company is very complicated and I really don't understand everything. Although TWDC holds approximately only 40% of Euro Disney SCA, every decission has to be approved by TWDC. Or am I wrong?

There is also a company called Euro Disney Associes SCA. Euro Disney SCA holds 82% and the remaining 18% are owned by two companies of TWDC. SO does this mean that TWDC owns more than 40% of the whole group?

Maybe someone on this forum can explain it? Thank you.

CafeFantasia · September 28, 2009, 11:00:13 AM

The thing is, haven't they been 2 billion Euros in debt for a long time? I'm sure that figure was the same 10 years ago. So have they really not made in progress in getting rid of that debt, in all this time?

When the debt is finally cleared, will Disneyland Paris suddenly be super rich, able to afford new attractions every year? Will they be able to afford to build rides like Expedition Everest and put on shows likes Fantasmic?

Willow · September 28, 2009, 03:10:33 PM

The way I see it is that it cost 2 billion to built the resort in 1992.
Things weren't great in the first 10 years so not much was paid off, then WDS came along and bumped the debt back up to 2 billion.

Of course, these are just guesses and estimations.

I would expect increased levels of investment once the debt is reduced significantly.

CafeFantasia · September 28, 2009, 03:19:58 PM

Okay. So in 10 to 20 years time, Disneyland Paris will finally be out of debt. That's a long time to wait.

Tuvok · September 30, 2009, 01:05:11 PM

I honestly don't think they will come out of their dept as stated in the 2020-2030 period. Around that time, DLRP's third gate will be built. I think they have learned from their WDS mistakes and built a decent full day third park. That, ofcourse, will cost a lot of money. Even though they have a huge dept, they are still able to built new rides (Tower of Terror, Crush's Coaster) and new lands (Toy Story Playland) which aren't cheap. Well, TSPL surely does look cheap, but money-wise isn't. :wink:

dagobert · October 07, 2009, 09:48:14 PM

Does somebody know when Euro Disney SCA publishes the Annual Report? The financial year is already over, so it shouldn't take too long.

Willow · October 07, 2009, 11:34:40 PM

Last year it was released on the 21st of October.
2007 was on the 7th of November.
2006 was on the 6th of November.
2005 was on the 16th of November.

Anytime within the next month really.

Anthony · October 19, 2009, 03:50:07 PM

Euro Disney SCA have finally updated their calendar:

http://corporate.disneylandparis.com/in ... ndex.xhtml

Annual Report is due on 12th November. I guess that's when Toy Story Playland finally gets confirmed? As a tiny, boring little footnote on the last page? That's their style. :wink:

RnRCj · October 19, 2009, 06:11:13 PM

Quote from: "Anthony"As a tiny, boring little footnote on the last page? That's their style. :wink:

That's all it deserves!!

Anthony · October 19, 2009, 07:27:08 PM

I suppose if you had your way it'd be held back until the next annual general meeting, for Philippe Gas to utter under his breath right at the end, in a very "And... Andy's birthday party has been moved to today." style. "And in 2010 we're opening a new expansion called Toy Story Playland. NOW! Moving On!!"

I hope it's more than a brief mention though, we've yet to actually find out where on earth the money is coming from. It might be "carnival" rides, but it's not going to be cheap.

dagobert · October 20, 2009, 12:57:57 PM

Do you think there is a small chance that Euro Disney SCA made a small profit despite the economical crisis? I really hope for them, but I don't think so.

phantom247 · October 21, 2009, 02:14:51 AM

There most probobly will be a small loss and extra dept incured by having to offer 40% discounts free meals and regular Merchandising Discounts during the year it may be even worse next year as the worst of the recession is over but employment most probobly will get worse next year before getting better in 2011 when there should be a return to profit.