The operator of Tokyo Disneyland said Tuesday it posted a pretax profit of 26.69 billion yen in fiscal 2005, down 13.5 percent, due to the World Exposition in Aichi.

Oriental Land Co., which also runs Tokyo DisneySea, posted a net profit of 15.70 billion yen, down 8.8 percent, on sales of 332.89 billion yen.

The company attributed the decline to the Aichi Expo, which attracted visitors from home and abroad between March and September 2005, as well as the exceptionally cold winter.

The two amusement parks had 24.77 million visitors, down 1 percent, during the year to March 31. The firm expects about 25.5 million people to visit the two parks in the current fiscal year.

Oriental Land also announced it will raise its entrance fee from September, the first hike since 2000. A one-day pass for adults will be raised to 5,800 yen from 5,500 yen.

However, a three-day pass for adults will be cut to 12,900 yen from 13,700 yen, and a four-day pass will cost 15,000 yen, 2,200 yen off the current price.

"We have introduced new attractions in the past few years," said Teruo Mitsui, Oriental Land's executive director. "The value of the park has increased and visitors are satisfied with it."

Oriental Land expects earnings to increase to 347.14 billion yen in fiscal 2006 and net profit to rise slightly to 15.79 billion yen.

Although the ticket hikes are expected to push up revenue by 2.8 billion yen a year, increased expenses, including labor costs for the new rides, are likely to offset profit, resulting in the flat figures forecast for this fiscal year, Mitsui said.