Updated: 04:58 AM EST
Euro Disney sales up, prince to back share issue
By Caroline Brothers, Reuters
PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - French theme park operator Euro Disney posted a 3 percent rise in first-quarter sales on Tuesday as visitors to its parks spent more, and said Saudi Prince Al-Walid would back its forthcoming capital increase.
The operator of Disneyland Paris, Europe's most popular tourist attraction, said in a statement that sales to the end of December totalled 269 million euros ($352.6 million) after 262 million on a proforma basis a year ago.
In theme parks alone -- the group also operates hotels and manages real estate on its east-of-Paris site -- sales rose 4 percent to 137 million euros in the quarter, thanks to increased average spending per visitor, the group said.
Finance Director Jeff Speed stressed that the figures, a record for the firm, were achieved against a difficult comparison base, with Christmas and New Year falling on weekends, and school holidays being shifted to January from December in some of its key markets.
"Generating growth in the theme park was unfavourably impacted by the vacation shift and by Christmas and New Year falling on a Saturday," Speed told Reuters in an interview.
However the holiday shift, plus Easter falling in March rather than April 2005, should help its second quarter, he said.
Euro Disney's volatile shares, which lost 43 percent of their value last year, stood 12 percent higher by 0945 GMT at 28 eurocents, having earlier touched 30 eurocents.
Hauled back from the brink of bankruptcy last month with a knife-edge deal to restructure its 2 billion euro debt, the loss-making firm told shareholders it aimed to lift sales and visitor numbers in 2005 and foresaw a stable operating margin. But it has given no precise targets.
LION'S SHARE
"The lion's share (of the theme park sales growth) was spending ... you can assume there is no material difference one way or the other versus the prior year," said Speed, when asked how visitor numbers had evolved in the quarter.
Increasing the number of feet through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, and the Walt Disney Studios opened beside it nearly three years ago, is crucial to restoring the loss-making firm to profit and starting to cut its debt load.
As part of its debt restructuring agreement, Euro Disney is planning a capital increase of about 250 million euros that has to be carried out by the end of March.
"Management's goal is to get this done as soon as we can so we can start on the execution of the growth strategy," Speed said.
The company said that Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, who already has a 16 percent stake in the firm, would participate in the capital increase by buying shares worth up to 25 million euros.
The idea was for the Saudi prince to keep a stake of "at least 10 percent" in Euro Disney's capital, the statement said.
While Al-Walid's participation in the rights issue will be seen as positive news -- he had not commented publicly on whether he would back the capital increase throughout the debt negotiations -- the undertaking still leaves room for him to sharply cut back his holding.
The Walt Disney Co , which owns 39 percent, has agreed to take 100 million euros of the rights issue.
The European outpost of the Disney empire has to carry out its capital increase by March or face the annulment of all its restructuring protocols.
Chairman Andre Lacroix plans to revamp the park with 240 million euros worth of new attractions to be phased in over several years.
He is planning to add a stomach-churning new ride, the "Tower of Terror" that drops visitors in a lift from the top of a Hollywood hotel, at the Walt Disney Studios in 2008, but Lacroix would not say what portion of the funds it would absorb -- one source has estimated its cost at 180 million euros.
The firm is relaunching its hugely popular Space Mountain ride as "Space Mountain: Mission 2" in 2005 and in 2006 will introduce "Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast," where visitors shoot laser pistols from two-seater cars.
Euro Disney sales up, prince to back share issue
By Caroline Brothers, Reuters
PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - French theme park operator Euro Disney posted a 3 percent rise in first-quarter sales on Tuesday as visitors to its parks spent more, and said Saudi Prince Al-Walid would back its forthcoming capital increase.
The operator of Disneyland Paris, Europe's most popular tourist attraction, said in a statement that sales to the end of December totalled 269 million euros ($352.6 million) after 262 million on a proforma basis a year ago.
In theme parks alone -- the group also operates hotels and manages real estate on its east-of-Paris site -- sales rose 4 percent to 137 million euros in the quarter, thanks to increased average spending per visitor, the group said.
Finance Director Jeff Speed stressed that the figures, a record for the firm, were achieved against a difficult comparison base, with Christmas and New Year falling on weekends, and school holidays being shifted to January from December in some of its key markets.
"Generating growth in the theme park was unfavourably impacted by the vacation shift and by Christmas and New Year falling on a Saturday," Speed told Reuters in an interview.
However the holiday shift, plus Easter falling in March rather than April 2005, should help its second quarter, he said.
Euro Disney's volatile shares, which lost 43 percent of their value last year, stood 12 percent higher by 0945 GMT at 28 eurocents, having earlier touched 30 eurocents.
Hauled back from the brink of bankruptcy last month with a knife-edge deal to restructure its 2 billion euro debt, the loss-making firm told shareholders it aimed to lift sales and visitor numbers in 2005 and foresaw a stable operating margin. But it has given no precise targets.
LION'S SHARE
"The lion's share (of the theme park sales growth) was spending ... you can assume there is no material difference one way or the other versus the prior year," said Speed, when asked how visitor numbers had evolved in the quarter.
Increasing the number of feet through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, and the Walt Disney Studios opened beside it nearly three years ago, is crucial to restoring the loss-making firm to profit and starting to cut its debt load.
As part of its debt restructuring agreement, Euro Disney is planning a capital increase of about 250 million euros that has to be carried out by the end of March.
"Management's goal is to get this done as soon as we can so we can start on the execution of the growth strategy," Speed said.
The company said that Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, who already has a 16 percent stake in the firm, would participate in the capital increase by buying shares worth up to 25 million euros.
The idea was for the Saudi prince to keep a stake of "at least 10 percent" in Euro Disney's capital, the statement said.
While Al-Walid's participation in the rights issue will be seen as positive news -- he had not commented publicly on whether he would back the capital increase throughout the debt negotiations -- the undertaking still leaves room for him to sharply cut back his holding.
The Walt Disney Co , which owns 39 percent, has agreed to take 100 million euros of the rights issue.
The European outpost of the Disney empire has to carry out its capital increase by March or face the annulment of all its restructuring protocols.
Chairman Andre Lacroix plans to revamp the park with 240 million euros worth of new attractions to be phased in over several years.
He is planning to add a stomach-churning new ride, the "Tower of Terror" that drops visitors in a lift from the top of a Hollywood hotel, at the Walt Disney Studios in 2008, but Lacroix would not say what portion of the funds it would absorb -- one source has estimated its cost at 180 million euros.
The firm is relaunching its hugely popular Space Mountain ride as "Space Mountain: Mission 2" in 2005 and in 2006 will introduce "Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast," where visitors shoot laser pistols from two-seater cars.