Struggling eurodisney sees big dip in revenues

[PARIS] Struggling eurodisney, which operates the Disneyland Paris theme park, on Thursday reported a multi-million net loss for 2014, just weeks after parent company Disney was forced to rush to its aid.

Total revenues for the year were down two per cent compared to 2013 at 1.3 billion euros (US$1.6 billion), resulting in an overall net loss of 114 million euros.

The net loss was 35 million euros worse than last year, as visitor numbers to the Disney-themed park continued a roller-coaster ride.

A total of 14.2 million people went through the turnstiles at the park last year, compared to 14.9 million in 2013 and 16.0 million the year before.

Around half the visitors (49 per cent) were French, with the second most frequent visitors being from Britain (16 per cent), eurodisney explained.

Tom Wolber, eurodisney president, blamed the poor results on "continued economic softness, notably in France".

Last month, US parent company Disney, was forced to ride to the rescue with a one-billion-euro recapitalisation plan.

This included a cash infusion of 420 million euros and a conversion of 600 million euros of debt owed to Disney into equity.

"If implemented, the recently announced one billion euro recapitalisation proposal, backed by the Walt Disney Company, is designed to improve our financial position and enable us to continue investing in the guest experience," said Wolber.

The firm has always struggled to turn a profit - its last was in 2008.

And the park boasting Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain is also weighed down by a debt mountain of some 1.7 billion euros.

AFP