Euro Disney S.C.A. Reports First Half 2006 Results

Started by Anthony, April 28, 2006, 11:42:59 PM

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Anthony

EURO DISNEY S.C.A.
Reports First Half 2006 Results

Six Months Ended March 31, 2006

• Revenues are Down 1% Compared to the Prior Year Period, Reflecting the Timing of the Easter Vacation Period
• Higher Net Loss is due to the Easter Vacation Shift and € 58.9 Million in Prior Year Financial Gains from the Restructuring
• Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast®, the First Attraction from the Group's New Investment Program, Opened Successfully April 8, 2006
• Due to a Strong Easter Vacation Period in April 2006, Year-to-Date Attendance and Occupancy Have Now Recovered to Prior Year Levels

New Investment Program

On April 8, 2006, the Group opened Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast® in Discoveryland at the Disneyland Park. Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast® is an interactive ride adventure featuring Buzz Lightyear and characters inspired by the Walt Disney Pictures presentation of the Pixar Animation Studios film, Toy Story 2. Buzz enlists guests to help him in the fight against the evil Emperor Zurg. Boarding a space cruiser, the guests spin, twist and turn their way through the galaxy while shooting at Zurg's bad toy forces with on-board blasters. With each target hit, guests accumulate points that help them rise through the ranks of Buzz Lightyear's elite squadron and help save the toy universe.

Beginning with fiscal year 2007, new additions are planned in the Walt Disney Studios Park. First, an exciting new land consisting of multiple new attractions, Toon Studios, is scheduled to open. Toon Studios will be followed by the extremely popular and iconic Tower of Terror, scheduled to open in fiscal year 2008.

These attractions are designed to add to the appeal and capacity of Disneyland Resort Paris, further enhancing the core guest experience and driving attendance and occupancy growth as well as increases in guest spending. Total capital spending for the fiscal year 2005 through 2009 attraction program is budgeted at approximately € 240 million, of which approximately € 76.5 million has been incurred through March 31, 2006.

New Marketing and Sales Initiatives

The Group recently completed a pan-European research study of its principal markets. From this research, the Group has gained key insights, enabling it to identify more efficient means of reaching target markets and developing resort offers tailored to the interests of key consumer segments. The Group's research indicates that offering a more simple and flexible pricing system should help to improve the value perception of the resort, which has led to the development of clearer and simpler pricing grids for the Group's summer 2006 sales brochure. The Group has also developed new product offers and programs that its research indicates should be attractive to the targeted customer bases.

Addressing the results, Karl L. Holz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euro Disney S.A.S., said:

"Due to a strong Easter vacation period in April, our results to date reflect stable revenues and good cost containment. The local Ile de France traffic, including visitation from the Paris tourist market, has been challenging at certain times this year, possibly impacted by social unrest during key periods.

With the launch of the popular and highly repeatable Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast®, as well as some innovative offers, we are working to attract more local visitors for the critical summer season, while continuing to target increased visitation from all of our markets."


Full report including attendance figures: http://www.eurodisney.com/data/270.pdf

These are pretty terrible results, let's hope they're right about the Easter holidays timing messing it up!  :?
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