Skyline's profits jump despite Queenstown's two-month closure

Skyline Enterprises has reported sky-high earnings this year, with its operation in Queenstown doing so well it has recovered two months of lost earnings after closing its doors to visitors while upgrades were underway.

The Queenstown tourism attraction reopened its doors at the end of June, welcoming people onto new 10-seater Doppelmayr gonoldas.

But it hasn't been a year reserved for celebration, with the company at the centre of scandal for the role it played in the September state of emergency, declared off the back of 24 hours of record rain in Queenstown.

While the company has confirmed it is footing the bill for the clean up of the Queenstown Cemetery following flooding damage caused by forestry slash it had left on Bob's Peak after its gondola upgrade, whether it will be liable for damages a few streets away in and around Reavers Lane remains undecided.

Either way, the company appears to be in a healthy financial position.

In an update reported in industry publication Tourism Ticker today, Skyline Enterprises chairman Peter Treacy says the company has "seen a resurgence in travel which has delivered very good numbers to our properties".

According to the report, Skyline's revenue for the six months to the end of September totalled $106 million, up 16 percent on the same period last year and "slightly better than budget"; while underlying trading earnings reached $29.6 million, up 13 percent.

“In New Zealand, Skyline Queenstown is tracking extremely well, and the business has even recovered the two months of lost earnings due to the gondola changeover," Mr Treacy says.

Construction work is set to continue at the Queenstown site, with Mr Treacy saying by their estimated completion in late 2017 the final price tag is projected to be close to $295 million - $310 million if the 2017 luge chairlift upgrade and forestry works are factored in.

After months of construction work at the gondola's base terminal and ticketing office on Brecon Street it is back to business as usual, while work on a restaurant extension at the top terminal continues.

This year the company has also acquired Coronet View Apartments - adding it to its Queenstown property portfolio alongside Blue Peaks Lodge and Apartments - which will provide "much needed accommodation for Skyline's local staff and ease the pressure when attracting and retaining the best people".

Headquartered in Queenstown, Skyline Enterprises has operations in Rotorua, Singapore, Canada and South Korea.

Tourism Ticker has today reported the company is also scoping an "exciting new opportunity" in Spain.

Read more on Tourism Ticker: Skyline interim profit jumps, scopes 'exciting new opportunity'