DXB Entertainments 2017 loss doubles, missing analysts' estimates

Theme park operator has yet to report a profit since launching in 2016

Net loss in 2017 reached Dh1.11 billion compared with Dh485 million a year earlier. Reem Mohammed / The National

DXB Entertainments, the theme park operator in which developer Meraas has a 52.3 per cent stake, said on Monday its 2017 full year net loss more than doubled from 2016, missing analysts’ expectations.

The net loss in 2017 reached Dh1.11 billion compared with a Dh485 million loss a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market where its shares are traded. These are preliminary results.

The company, which operates Dubai Parks and Resorts, didn’t provide a reason for the results, which came below the mean average forecast of a Dh896m loss, according to a Bloomberg poll of four analysts.

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The park operator received 2.3 million visits last year. The company didn’t provide comparative figures for 2016, the year it started operations. It welcomed 796,000 visits in the fourth quarter, up by 66 per cent from the third quarter.

The operator’s assets decreased 5.6 per cent to Dh12.1bn at the end of last year from the end of 2016 “due to depreciation and a reduction in cash balance used for the purpose of project related payments and operational expenses,” the company said.

DXB completed a restructuring programme in the third quarter that included reducing staff numbers and marketing spend, in addition to re-organising the business around three divisions: theme parks, family entertainment centres, and retail and hospitality.