Vail Resorts Reports Fiscal 2009 Results and 2010 Outlook

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Sept 24, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) today reported results for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2009.

Fiscal 2009 Highlights

-- Resort Reported EBITDA, which includes the Company's Mountain and
Lodging segments, of $171.1 million in Fiscal 2009 decreased $59.6
million, or 25.8%, from the prior year.
-- Real Estate Reported EBITDA of $44.1 million in Fiscal 2009 decreased
$1.9 million, or 4.0%, from the prior year.
-- Net income of $49.0 million in Fiscal 2009 decreased $54.0 million, or
52.4%, from the prior year.

-- Net Debt leverage ratio of 1.96 times trailing twelve months Total
Reported EBITDA, $69.3 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand as
of July 31, 2009, and no revolver borrowings under the Company's
$400 million senior credit facility.

Commenting on the Company's Fiscal 2009 results, Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer said, "I am pleased that Vail Resorts was able to deliver solid results for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2009, given the unprecedented economic environment and its impact on the travel and leisure sectors. Our fourth fiscal quarter is a seasonally low quarter with no ski operations. Therefore, our year-end results, especially in our Mountain segment, tracked with trends previously reported for our third quarter to date. Overall, our Fiscal 2009 net income as well as Resort Reported EBITDA fell in the upper end of our guidance ranges (which we issued in March 2009 and reaffirmed in June 2009, in our second and third quarter earnings releases, respectively), while Real Estate Reported EBITDA slightly exceeded the upper end of our previous range. These results all benefited from our continued focus on cost controls. The Company implemented cost savings initiatives in Fiscal 2009, which helped to insulate our results from the full impact of the downturn in travel and leisure spending and better position the Company for Fiscal 2010. Importantly, we were able to achieve these expense reductions, while actually improving our company-wide overall guest satisfaction scores over the prior year. Total skier visits declined 5.3% for the 2008/2009 ski season and total lift ticket revenue declined 8.4%. We estimate that total Destination (out-of-state and international) visitation declined by approximately 15% for the 2008/2009 ski season, while we saw overall visits from season pass holders improve by 17.0% due to an increase in the number of passes sold and an increase in pass usage during the season. Visitation at our Colorado resorts declined by 3.5% during the 2008/2009 ski season compared to the 2007/2008 ski season. This compares very favorably to the skier visit results reported by the rest of the Colorado ski industry, which declined 6.9% over the same period and the Utah ski industry, which declined 6.5%. The number of season passes sold for the 2008/2009 ski season was 12.2% greater than the number of passes sold for the 2007/2008 ski season, due in large part to the introduction of the Epic Season Pass in the 2008/2009 season, and when combined with an 8.3% increase in effective pass price, drove a 21.7% increase in season pass revenue. Season pass revenue as a percent of total lift ticket revenue grew from 26% for the 2007/2008 ski season to 34% for the 2008/2009 ski season. Our ancillary business revenue lines, including ski school, dining and retail/rental, experienced greater percentage declines than our lift ticket revenue variance due to the combination of lower Destination visitation and lower average guest spend during their stay."



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