Euro Disney expected to announce lower losses for first half of 2013

Euro Disney, the theme park complex on the outskirts of Paris, is expected to announce reduced net losses for the first half of 2013 as a result of a €1.3bn (£1.1bn) debt refinancing deal with its 39.8% shareholder the Walt Disney Company.

Since Euro Disney opened in 1992 it has made an annual loss 13 times.

In September a refinancing of the loan used to fund the resort allowed the company to save €45m over the next five years.

A leading City analyst says that the results for the first half of 2013 will be the first evidence of positive impact from the debt deal. “Last year it made a net loss of €100m and I have it at €96m this year. It’s a small improvement because of the refinancing,” says the analyst.

Revenues are expected to increase 1.7% to €562m.

Euro Disney is also facing demands from France’s largest trade union to give its 14,500 staff a pay rise of up to 1.5%. If Euro Disney refuses it risks repeating scenes from last year when staff marched on strike through its flagship park and the daily parade through the Victorian themed Main Street of Disneyland Paris was called off just as celebrities had begun to arrive to celebrate its 20th anniversary.