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Compagnie des Alpes (CDA), which operates in Europe a dozen leisure parks and attractions including Parc Asterix, Futuroscope, the Grévin Wax Museum and the Walibi amusement parks, announced in mid-December its financial results for its 2011-2012 fiscal year ended September 30, 2012.
Despite a difficult economic context, the revenue of the group - whose main activity is the operation of ski areas - rose by 3.7% to stand at €677.7 million, while the net result is a profit of €27.7 million. "We continued our strategic inflection launched in 2009. In the area of leisure parks, we caught up our delay with important and selective investments whose effects were immediate on our sales," stated Dominique Marcel, CEO of Compagnie des Alpes.
With a turnover up 1.8% to €296.2 million, CDA considers that the activity of leisure parks has withstood an unstable year which is summarized in three periods. During the first half, the parks have achieved very good performance mainly due to Halloween events and the integration of Futuroscope (sales up 9.9% compared to the previous FY). In the third quarter, this dynamic, however, was significantly slowed due to poor weather conditions (-9.5% in the quarter, -2% over the first 9 months). Finally, the activity was a significant rebound during the summer season which is the most significant period of the year with sales up 6.3%.
Only downside, the overall attendance of the parks is down slightly by 0.5% to 9.3 million visitors. This is offset by an average spending per visitor up 2.4%, a consequence of improved offer, targeted promotional campaigns and quality investments, according to the group.
CDA is particularly satisfied with the results of the parks for which it has engaged the more investment, namely Parc Astérix (sales up nearly 10%, attendance up 8%, growth of both margin ratio and market share), Walibi parks (sales up 5.8%, attendance up 4%) and Grévin (sales up 4.3%, attendance up 1.5%).
Overall, the group has invested 53 million euros in the fiscal year 2011-2012, ie 18% of its revenues. At Parc Astérix, the group added a new Egyptian themed area whose main ride 'OzIris' - an inverted coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard - has been a great popular success. Walibi parks have continued to integrate the new musical universe of the brand with rides and entertainments (eg the cinema 4D 'Psyke Club: 5D Experience' at Walibi Holland, the flume ride 'Bambooz River' at Walibi Rhône-Alpes and several kiddie rides at Walibi Sud-Ouest).
In return for this good performance, the group reported the poor results of Dolfinarium in The Netherlands (considered exceptional because the site is partially closed for transformation). CDA is also disengaged from the edutainment park Bioscope (closed in September) and this has negatively impacted the group accounts for an amount of €5.5 million, of which 1.5 million are related to closing costs.
A new vision of the leisure market
At a press conference held in Paris in late December, Dominique Marcel announced the new ambitions of Compagnie des Alpes facing what he sees as the emergence of a new age of leisure. The growth potential of the sector is indeed important (consumption in leisure could increase by 12% by 2016 according to experts), mainly in emerging markets. As one of the leading operators of leisure parks in Europe, CDA believes it has strong assets to "promote a different vision of leisure" thanks to its expertise, its "recognized and exportable operational excellence", the financial strength of its shareholders and its brands.
"Our ambition is to become a producer of leisure that emphasizes innovation and unique experiences with deep roots in geographic and cultural diversity," said Dominique Marcel. In this context, CDA has set three principal strategic commitments:
- Stimulate the growth of its two historical activities by investing regularly and selectively to enrich the offer with for aim to increase the average spending per visitor, optimize the attendance and attract more new visitors (first time visit). To do so, CDA will continue to make structural investments (eg with OzIris at Parc Astérix) and 'loyalty investments' (eg with new theming and entertaiments at Walibi parks). The group also is exploring the possibility of developing indoor amusement parks with the brands Walibi and Asterix.
- Develop new businesses to strengthen the turnover of the historical activities. For instance, CDA seeks to deploy an offer of accomodations for several of its parks, including at Parc Astérix and Walibi Sud-Ouest where studies are being conducted. In the Netherlands, the existing bungalows village of Walibi Holland is undergoing renovation in order to integrate a new concept: the 'Walibi Village'.
At the same time, the group continues the development of the Walibi brand outside of the amusement parks with new comics (in collaboration with Dupuis in Belgium), a box CD/DVD, concerts at festivals and events for children and the animated series which is currently in coproduction (an agreement with a producer has been signed to start the funding of the project). Finally, CDA is still working on the development of 'Sindibad by Walibi', a turnkey amusement park in Casablanca, Morocco.
- Expand its activities internationally, and especially with the Grévin Wax Museum brand whose first location abroad will open in April in Montreal, Canada. With a business model judged as strong and proven by the group (steady growth of ~ 5% per year, strong profitability, good returns on investments, etc.), the aim is to open a new location every year. After Montreal, a second museum will be launched in the first quarter of 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic, while three other identified projects are in negotiation.
Outlook
The beginning of the fiscal year 2012-2013 was marked by good performance of the Halloween events 'Peur sur le Parc' at Parc Asterix (attendance up 6% compared to 2011) and 'Halloween Fright Nights' at Walbi Holland (up 20%). In the meantime, Futuroscope welcomed 11% more guests during the All Saints holiday compared to the previous year. However, the combination of the temporary closure of Dolfinarium and a calendar effect (there was a weekend operating less compared to 2011, ie 12 days of activity) that have resulted that the leisure parks turnover was down 17% dated December 17, 2012. This should not affected the annual results of the group.
Compagnie des Alpes believes being in running order to meet the challenges of its markets. "Our group is very strong in the current context. It is more fluid, agile, integrated and determined to accelerate its development, "concluded Dominique Marcel.
Revenues for the first quarter of FY 2012-2013 will be announced this Thursday, January 24.
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