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Universal sees 4 percent drop in this year's attendance
The company tries to soften earlier news of a steeper drop by releasing April figures to go along with its official federal report.
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 12, 2006, 10:36 AM EDT
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Universal's report was for the second quarter. The report is for the first quarter.
Caught in a calendar crunch during tough times, Universal Orlando took the unusual step today of announcing some financial numbers that show its Orlando theme parks resort attendance fell 4 percent during the first four months of this year, and that income was about the same as last year.
Universal put out a special statement that adds some April 2006 financial data to its usual January-February-March financial report because the big Easter vacation season fell in April this year but fell in March last year.
The financial addendum softened more troubling news reported earlier today in the first-quarter financial statement that Universal's parent company, Universal City Development Partners, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Covering January, February and March, but not including the Easter season, that report showed Universal Orlando lost $25 million to start the 2006 calendar year, while suffering a 15 percent drop in combined paid attendance for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
The official quarterly report follows the 2005 annual report, released in March, which showed Universal's attendance fell 11 percent for the year compared with 2004.
The annual report had some good news, showing that Universal had managed to cut costs and increase per-visitor spending in 2005 so that overall the company actually posted a record profit. But analysts focused on the gate figures, saying Universal needed to fix the attendance slide because costs can be cut for only so long.
Some of the positive trends noted in the 2005 annual report continued. Universal's statement on the four-month period said the company's total revenue should match last year's total of $291 million, and its income before taxes and other corporate overhead should go up 2 percent. However, the four-month numbers that Universal released did not include any profit or loss comparisons with the months of January, February, March and April 2005. The April books are not yet closed.
Universal Orlando's president Bob Gault sounded encouraged in a written statement released with the April numbers, despite the continued slide in attendance.
"We're seeing upward momentum from where we were for much of last year -- and we're seeing reason for encouragement," Gault said. "Our financial results through Easter -- which is a more accurate comparison with last year's results -- show that our aggressive marketing efforts and strong, value-driven ticket programs are having a positive impact on our business."
Those positive impacts just don't show up in the official, three-month SEC filing.
In that report, Universal blamed the drop in attendance and the drop in income on the timing of the Easter vacation. Normally a huge money-maker for theme parks, Easter week occurred in April this year, but occurred in March last year. That means, the report argued several times, that the 2005 first quarter may be an unfair comparison because it included that rich vacation period while the 2006 first quarter didn't.
Earlier this week, Walt Disney Co. also blamed the timing of Easter for watering down attendance figures at its theme parks. However, its first-quarter report, filed Tuesday, showed a 3 percent increase in attendance at Walt Disney World for January, February and March.
Universal's first quarter ended April 2. Easter was April 16.
Combined paid attendance for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for the official three-month period was 2.22 million people. Total attendance was reported at 2.39 million people. That compared with 2.62 million paid attendance and 2.79 total attendance in the first three months of 2005, which included easter.
"Based on the seasonality of our attendance, the results for the quarters ended April 2, 2006, and April 3, 2005, are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year," the report states.
The SEC filing also notes a few more positive trends. Universal was able to slightly lower its long-term debt in the quarter to $1.04 billion, and was able to more than double the cash it has on hand, to $94.9 million.
The company tries to soften earlier news of a steeper drop by releasing April figures to go along with its official federal report.
Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 12, 2006, 10:36 AM EDT
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Universal's report was for the second quarter. The report is for the first quarter.
Caught in a calendar crunch during tough times, Universal Orlando took the unusual step today of announcing some financial numbers that show its Orlando theme parks resort attendance fell 4 percent during the first four months of this year, and that income was about the same as last year.
Universal put out a special statement that adds some April 2006 financial data to its usual January-February-March financial report because the big Easter vacation season fell in April this year but fell in March last year.
The financial addendum softened more troubling news reported earlier today in the first-quarter financial statement that Universal's parent company, Universal City Development Partners, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Covering January, February and March, but not including the Easter season, that report showed Universal Orlando lost $25 million to start the 2006 calendar year, while suffering a 15 percent drop in combined paid attendance for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
The official quarterly report follows the 2005 annual report, released in March, which showed Universal's attendance fell 11 percent for the year compared with 2004.
The annual report had some good news, showing that Universal had managed to cut costs and increase per-visitor spending in 2005 so that overall the company actually posted a record profit. But analysts focused on the gate figures, saying Universal needed to fix the attendance slide because costs can be cut for only so long.
Some of the positive trends noted in the 2005 annual report continued. Universal's statement on the four-month period said the company's total revenue should match last year's total of $291 million, and its income before taxes and other corporate overhead should go up 2 percent. However, the four-month numbers that Universal released did not include any profit or loss comparisons with the months of January, February, March and April 2005. The April books are not yet closed.
Universal Orlando's president Bob Gault sounded encouraged in a written statement released with the April numbers, despite the continued slide in attendance.
"We're seeing upward momentum from where we were for much of last year -- and we're seeing reason for encouragement," Gault said. "Our financial results through Easter -- which is a more accurate comparison with last year's results -- show that our aggressive marketing efforts and strong, value-driven ticket programs are having a positive impact on our business."
Those positive impacts just don't show up in the official, three-month SEC filing.
In that report, Universal blamed the drop in attendance and the drop in income on the timing of the Easter vacation. Normally a huge money-maker for theme parks, Easter week occurred in April this year, but occurred in March last year. That means, the report argued several times, that the 2005 first quarter may be an unfair comparison because it included that rich vacation period while the 2006 first quarter didn't.
Earlier this week, Walt Disney Co. also blamed the timing of Easter for watering down attendance figures at its theme parks. However, its first-quarter report, filed Tuesday, showed a 3 percent increase in attendance at Walt Disney World for January, February and March.
Universal's first quarter ended April 2. Easter was April 16.
Combined paid attendance for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for the official three-month period was 2.22 million people. Total attendance was reported at 2.39 million people. That compared with 2.62 million paid attendance and 2.79 total attendance in the first three months of 2005, which included easter.
"Based on the seasonality of our attendance, the results for the quarters ended April 2, 2006, and April 3, 2005, are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year," the report states.
The SEC filing also notes a few more positive trends. Universal was able to slightly lower its long-term debt in the quarter to $1.04 billion, and was able to more than double the cash it has on hand, to $94.9 million.
