American Skiing reports 4th-quarter loss of $39.2M

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American Skiing reports 4th-quarter loss of $39.2M

American Skiing Co. on Monday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $39.2 million, which marked a significant improvement from the same quarter a year earlier, when the Park City-based company lost $123.6 million.
The quarterly loss amounted to $1.24 a share, compared with $3.90 a share last year.
American Skiing, which owns The Canyons resort outside of Park City and six ski areas in Colorado and New England, lost $24.5 million from resort operations in the quarter that ended July 27. Company spokesman Erik Preusse attributed the improvement from the fourth quarter of 2002, when American Skiing's resorts lost $48.8 million, to "cost-reduction efforts that helped mitigate the impact of lower business volume."
A major improvement occurred in the company's real estate ventures. American Skiing lost $4.8 million in the fourth quarter this year compared with $68.9 million in the same period a year earlier.
American Skiing Chief Executive B.J. Fair put a positive spin on the results, saying they were achieved despite a persistently soft economy, adverse weather and the war in Iraq.
The company's stock closed Monday at 11 cents a share, down a penny.
-- Mike Gorrell

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