Broomfield, Colorado-based Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) noticed its shares heading for the mountaintop first thing Friday, on reporting results for the second quarter of fiscal 2019 ended January 31, 2019 and provided the Company's ski season-to-date metrics through March 3.
Net income attributable to Vail was $206.3 million for the second fiscal quarter of 2019 compared to $235.7 million in the same period in the prior year. As previously disclosed, fiscal 2018 second-quarter net income included a one-time, net tax benefit of approximately $64.6 million (or approximately $1.55 earnings per diluted share) related to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
The Company updated its fiscal 2019 guidance range and is now expecting Resort Reported EBITDA to be between $690 million and $710 million.
CEO Rob Katz, said, "We are pleased with our overall results for the quarter, with strong growth in visitation and spending compared to the prior year. In the pre-holiday period, destination guest visitation at our U.S. resorts was less than expected, which we attribute to guest concerns after two prior years of poor pre-holiday conditions.
"Our destination guest visitation was largely in line with expectations during the key holiday weeks and through the remainder of January. Throughout the quarter, with the favorable conditions at our U.S. resorts, we saw strong visitation growth among our local guests, who are primarily pass purchasers."
Including results from Triple Peaks and Stevens Pass in the second quarter of fiscal 2019, total lift revenue increased 17.2%, driven by a 27.0% growth in skier visitation.
Shares hiked $11.03, or 5.5%, to $213.19
