Do you want the good news or the bad news? Just kidding, there really is no good news in the report just released from Dubai Parks and Resorts. The company who owns motiongate Dubai, LEGOLAND Dubai and the Bollywood Park continues to operate at a net loss and the future still looks like an uphill battle.
According to their recent announcement, DXB Entertainments (who own the parks mentioned above) lost 1 billion dirhams last year (2018). If there is any “good” news coming from this? It’s compared to 2017, they lost less money. That year, they operated at a 1.12 billion dirhams loss.
A quick calculation (based on the day this article was written shows that this converts to roughly 272 million dollars. Theme park per cap numbers
Overall, visits to the entire resort (all three parks, plus their dining/shopping district) were at 2.8 million. This is an increase of 22 percent over 2017. However, as we have mentioned at TPU before, those increases need to be closer to the 100% range and per caps increasing before they can even come close to breaking even.
By the way, DXB Entertainments want you to know that the cancellation (or delay as they call it) of the Six Flags Dubai project has no reflection on earnings. In a statement the company said the project “do(es) not reflect any potential financial impact with regard to the Six Flags Dubai project, now any material post balance sheet updates, if any”.
Now that the Six Flags Dubai project is off the table and we know they are operating at a huge loss year after year, the clock is ticking. How much longer do you think they can operate at a loss before scaling down their operation and/or eventually closing three theme parks entirely? Your thoughts?
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