Vail has record season; offers dividend

 BROOMFIELD – Vail Resorts Inc. reported Thursday an increase in net income, a record number of skier visits and its first quarterly cash dividend in the company’s history.

The publicly traded Broomfield-based ski resort, lodging and real estate company (NYSE: MTN) reported net income of $76.9 million for the three-month period that ended April 30, or $2.08 per share. That was up from $72.8 million, or $1.98 per share for the same period the year earlier.

Skier visits at Vail Mountain alone grew by 150,000 skiers in the 2010-2011 ski season to an all-time record of 1.75 million, the company said in its quarterly earnings report. Vail Resorts operates the Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone ski resorts in Colorado, and the Heavenly and Northstar-at-Tahoe resorts on the Nevada/California border.

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“The investments we made at our resorts, our focus on driving lift revenue and ancillary spending, as well as shifting guests to advanced purchased products, allowed us to report strong growth in Resort Reported EBITDA, despite an economy that continues to be in flux,” Robert Katz, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement.

EBITDA stands for earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization, a tool used to value businesses.

At the same time, Vail Resorts said its first ever quarterly cash dividend would be 15 cents per share of common stock.

Across the Colorado ski industry, skier visits topped 12 million for the first time since the 2007-2008 ski season, according to the trade group Colorado Ski Country USA.

Total skier visits at Colorado resorts this winter likely topped 12 million for the first time since the 2007-2008 season,according to the trade group. The trade group records skier visits at 22 member resorts, excluding the Vail Resorts properties. There were close to 6.9 million skiers at all other Colorado resorts for the season, a 2.6 percent increase over the 2009-2010 season, the trade group said.