Profit down at Japan Disney

[cherrynegra]

Profit down at Japan Disney firm Oriental Land
Reuters, 05.10.04, 4:08 AM ET


TOKYO, May 10 (Reuters) - Oriental Land Co <4661.T>, operator of the Tokyo Disney resorts, on Monday unveiled a 2.1 percent fall in annual profit after a one-off charge on its property holdings, but predicted a record profit this business year.

In contrast to the gloom elsewhere in the country's leisure industry, hit by deflation and weak spending, the two hugely popular Tokyo Disney resorts -- Disneyland and the adjacent DisneySea -- have sparkled, helped by Disneyland's 20th anniversary events that boosted visitor numbers last year.

The Magic Kingdom on the outskirts of Tokyo drew a record 25.47 million visitors in the year that ended on March 31, up 2.6 percent from a year ago and 2.5 times more than rival Universal Studios of Japan (USJ) in the western city of Osaka.

Group net profit at Oriental Land totalled 18.53 billion yen ($164.6 million), down slightly from the previous year's record profit of 18.93 billion yen.

The profit figure, which reflected a 914 million yen one-off loss from removing some property holdings, fell short of the firm's February projection of 19 billion yen and a 19.7 billion yen consensus forecast from 13 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Top-line earnings remained strong, with revenue for the year rising 1.4 percent to a record 336.52 billion yen in 2003/04.

Oriental Land forecast net profit would rise to a record 19.5 billion yen this business year on revenue of 340.5 billion yen, another record. The estimate was lower than a consensus profit estimate by analysts of 20.65 billion yen.

The company raised its dividend by five yen to 29 yen per share in the year just ended and said it planned to pay 30 yen this business year.

Shares in Oriental Land rose 34 percent last business year, underperforming a 47 percent rally in Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 share average <.N225>.

Prior to the earnings announcement, shares in Oriental Land ended the day down 4.85 percent at 6,670 yen compared to a fall of 4.84 percent in the Nikkei. ($1=112.57 Yen)

Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service

 

[jrriddle]

Hmmm, I guess OLC isn't as perfect as we thought.
Not a huge loss. It should also be noted that all the Asian markets took a huge plunge the last 2 days.
I wonder if this is why they are being involved with the 50th?
Original plans called for them only being minimally involved.
At any rate I'm pretty sure that things will pick up with the new coster, Buzz, ToT, and some other rumours I've heard.

 

[cherrynegra]

Yeah, I have to say I was very shocked to even see that headline. But I see it as a minor blip on the screen as they've never had any problems before. It's almost funny how "independent" the TDL parks are and they seem to have endless amounts of cash at their disposal for maintaining the parks and adding attractions.

 

[WeirdOne]

Oh my god, people, this is NOT a bad thing. Revenue is up, that's amazing. A 2.1% profit loss is NOTHING for a revenue gain. The parks are doing amazingly great. It goes to show that quality wins over everything else. This is hardly bad news at all. But, yes, the OLC is far from perfect, but their themeparks are . - The WeirdOne ^_^

 

[jrriddle]

Originally posted by WeirdOne
But, yes, the OLC is far from perfect, but their themeparks are . - The WeirdOne ^_^

I agree 100%.
The thing I find a surprise is that they lost anything at all
(I know it's only 1st Q).
I was just under the impression that the parks were doing very well, the merchandise was also doing well and the hotel bookings were solid.
No, 2.1 is nothing, just a surprise (to me).

 

[WeirdOne]

Your impression was right, the parks are doing very well. Ticket sales are up, merchandise sales are up, sales are up for everything. The hotel bookings are more than solid. A profit loss indicates to them that the average guest is spending less, but since there is a revenue climb, more guests are spending money. This just means the OLC will put more efforts into luring the average guest to spend more and spend more moeny to keep the clean image of the parks. - The WeirdOne

 

[jrriddle]

Thanks for the info WO.