Euro Disney Ends Year in Black--Barely : Earnings: Turnaround is attributed to financial measures and higher attendance at Disneyland Paris.

Euro Disney ended the year barely in the black, with its first annual profit ever, showing the effects of the repurchase of bonds, a previous financial housecleaning and better-than-expected attendance at the Disneyland Paris theme park in France.

The company had set a goal of breaking even next year. Instead, it earned a small $22.8 million profit in its just-completed fiscal year, compared to a loss of $366 million for the year before.

However, the full-year profit is not all it appears. All but $400,000 came from a one-time gain caused when Euro Disney bought back bonds that could have been converted into stock. Still, it’s a profit.

“This has been a landmark year for the company,” Chairman Philippe Bourguignon said. “In 1995, we achieved a renaissance.”

The company reported its first quarterly profit in July, foreshadowing the profit for the 12 months ended Sept. 30.

In Paris, however, investors drove the price of Euro Disney stock down to $2.92 a share from $3.41 on Wednesday because investors had expected higher profits and there was concern that the business still has excessive debts.

The theme park outside Paris has had a rocky history since its opening in April, 1992. At one point it was hemorrhaging $1 million a day.

But the biggest problem was financial. The park--planned when Europe’s economic outlook was rosier--struggled in an economy suffering high unemployment and labored under a big debt load of its own. In addition, a strong French franc made it more expensive for tourists from other European countries to visit.

Those problems came to a head in late 1993, when Walt Disney Co. posted a $77.8-million quarterly loss--its first in nine years--allocating $350 million to deal with Euro Disney’s problems.

A financial restructuring worked out with Euro Disney’s banks followed in early 1994, with a Saudi prince agreeing to invest as much as $500 million in a plan to rescue the theme park the following June. Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia owns 23.6% of Euro Disney, Disney Co. owns 39.2%, and individual investors and institutions such as mutual funds hold the remainder.

During fiscal 1995, attendance at Disneyland Paris rose 21% to 10.7 million visitors, from 8.8 million visitors the year before.

Theme park revenue rose 8.7% to $500 million. Hotel revenue rose to $360 million from $300 million as hotel occupancy picked up to 68.5% from 60% a year earlier.

Hoping to keep up attendance during the cold winter months, the park recently cut entrance fees to $24 for children and $30 for adults.

Euro Disney executives also said they don’t expect to raise admission prices in the foreseeable future, after having cut them in the past year to attract more visitors.

Disneyland Paris now ranks as the No. 1 tourist draw in France, even among the French.