SANDUSKY, OHIO, February 7,
2008 -- Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement
parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced results
for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007. The 2006
comparable figures include the results of the Paramount Parks since
their acquisition from CBS Corporation on June 30, 2006.
Cedar Fair’s combined operations generated full-year revenues of
$987.0 million, with income before taxes of $9.7 million and a net
loss of $4.5 million, or $0.08 per diluted limited-partner (LP)
unit. In 2006, combined revenues for the company were $831.4
million, with income before taxes of $126.6 million and net income
of $87.5 million, or $1.59 per diluted LP unit. Included in the 2007
results is a non-cash impairment charge of $54.9 million, or $1.00
per diluted LP unit, relating to the Geauga Lake restructuring.
Adjusted EBITDA, which management believes is a meaningful measure
of the company’s park-level operating results, increased 9.8% to
$340.7 million from $310.3 million a year ago. See the attached
table for a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net income.
“I am pleased to report that 2007 was another very successful year
for the company,” said Dick Kinzel, Cedar Fair’s chairman, president
and chief executive officer. “This was a year of transformation for
Cedar Fair as we continued to integrate the newly acquired parks
into our existing portfolio of assets. In 2007, our combined parks
entertained more than 22 million visitors and generated an average
in-park guest per capita spending of $40.60, up 5% from 2006. The
result of this solid operating performance was a record $341 million
in adjusted EBITDA.”
Kinzel added, “The integration of our new parks continues to go well
and we are where we expected to be on a combined basis at this point
in the process. Although not all of the new parks performed to our
expectations in 2007, we saw significant growth in guest per capita
spending and we continued to meet our planned cost savings and
synergies.”
After depreciation, amortization and other non-cash costs, operating
income for the year, on a combined basis, was $154.6 million
compared with $219.5 million in 2006. Cash operating costs in 2007
totaled $646.3 million versus $521.1 million in the prior year,
while non-cash costs, including the $54.9 million charge for
impairment of assets, totaled $186.1 million compared to $90.8
million in 2006.
“As we indicated in the third quarter, the non-cash impairment
charge recognized during the year was necessary to properly account
for the change in strategy at our Geauga Lake property in Aurora,
Ohio,” said Kinzel. “Our plans to relocate certain rides and
attractions to more profitable locations and to market the excess
assets of the park are progressing as planned. We have already
relocated a significant number rides to other Cedar Fair parks for
the upcoming 2008 season, and we remain confident that we will be
able to operate a profitable water park at Geauga Lake while
generating greater value from these relocated rides and available
land.”
For the year, interest expense increased $57.3 million to $145.6
million due to a full year of interest on the acquisition financing
compared to only six months in 2006. In 2007, a provision for taxes
of $14.2 million was recorded to account for the tax attributes of
our corporate subsidiaries and publicly traded partnership (PTP)
taxes, compared to a provision of $39.1 million in 2006. After
interest expense and provision for taxes, combined net loss for the
year totaled $4.5 million, or $0.08 per LP unit. In 2006, the
company reported net income of $87.5 million, or $1.59 per LP unit.
“Given the significant decrease in net income between years, I
believe it’s again important to reiterate how we operate and manage
the financial aspects of our business,” said Kinzel. “Our focus is
to generate adequate cash flow through our daily operations to cover
all cash requirements and to support our quarterly distribution
payments while continuing to invest in our properties for the
long-term. When reviewing net income, it’s important to consider the
non-cash accounting line items that are also included in this amount
that have no impact on our cash flow requirements for capital
expenditures and distribution payments. This is why we believe
adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful measure of park-level operating
profitability. When reviewing and discussing free cash flow we use
adjusted EBITDA as a beginning point, but also take into
consideration cash payments made for interest, taxes, capital
expenditures and, finally, distributions. After reviewing projected
cash flow, we feel confident in our ability to meet our cash flow
requirements for the foreseeable future, including distributions.”
Same-Park Comparison (excluding acquisition benefit)
For comparison, excluding the effects of the acquisition and
corporate costs, Cedar Fair’s 2007 full-year results generated
adjusted EBITDA of $224.1 million compared to $203.6 million in
2006, on a same-park basis. The increase in adjusted EBITDA is the
result of a $19.1 million, or 3%, increase in revenues to $584.2
million, and a $1.5 million decrease in cash operating costs to
$360.1 million.
The increase in revenues is the result of a 5% increase in average
in-park guest per capita spending and a 1%, or $1.3 million,
increase in out-of-park revenues. These gains were offset slightly
by a 2% decrease in combined, same-park attendance. “Our Northern
Region produced solid increases in guest per capita spending and
out-of-park revenues, largely due to the successful introduction of
world-class roller coasters at both Cedar Point and Valleyfair,”
said Kinzel. “Attendance at these two parks, as well as Dorney Park,
was also up between years, which more than offset attendance
shortfalls at our other parks in the region. Revenues on a same-park
basis in our Western Region were also up from a year ago, the result
of solid increases in guest per capita spending levels at those
parks.”
The decrease in cash operating costs between years was primarily
attributable to reduced cash operating costs at Geauga Lake in 2007,
offset somewhat by higher cash operating costs at Knott’s Berry
Farm.
Fourth Quarter Results
For the fourth quarter, net revenues on a combined basis decreased
$4.4 million to $115.4 million from $119.9 million a year ago.
Combined operating loss for this same period was $19.6 million
compared to an operating loss of $1.9 million in the fourth quarter
a year ago. The higher operating loss is largely attributable to a
$15.7 million non-cash charge for impairment of assets relating to
the Geauga Lake restructuring. This represents additional impairment
above the $39.2 million charge that was recognized in the third
quarter, resulting from changes in certain estimates and changes in
management’s plans related to the disposition of certain assets.
After interest expense, which was down $3.2 million between years,
and a benefit for taxes in the period, net loss for the quarter was
$9.0 million, or $0.17 per LP unit, in 2007 compared to a net loss
of $30.0 million, or $0.56 per LP unit, last year.
Kinzel explained the operating results for the current fiscal fourth
quarter, which began on October 1, 2007, was negatively impacted by
fewer operating days when compared with last year’s fourth quarter,
which began on September 25, 2006. During this additional week the
company’s seasonal amusement parks were open weekends only, while
the year-round properties (Knott’s Berry Farm, Castaway Bay and Star
Trek: The Experience) were in operation for the full week. “The
additional operating days in the fourth quarter of 2006 provided a
benefit to revenues in that period of approximately $14 million as
well as an additional 304,000 guest visits,” said Kinzel.
“In general, we are pleased with the performance of our parks in the
fourth quarter,” he continued. “In 2007, we continued to see growth
in our fall season, something we’re very excited about. Several of
our legacy parks, including Cedar Point, performed very well in
October, as did some of the new parks in the Northern Region. Our
fall season has become increasingly more important to our overall
operating results and we believe continued expansion of the events
and operations around this part of the season will provide us with
additional opportunities for growth.”
2008 Outlook
For the 2008 season, Kinzel reported that the company will be
investing $88 million in capital improvements across its properties,
highlighted by the addition of new world-class roller coasters at
Canada’s Wonderland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Kings Dominion, Dorney Park
and Michigan’s Adventure. In addition, the company is expanding the
water park at Carowinds and introducing a new children’s area at
Cedar Point and a new thrill ride at California’s Great America. “We
will continue our long-term strategy of continually reinvesting in
our parks to improve the guest experience,” said Kinzel. “We remain
in solid shape to invest capital in our parks as planned, while
maintaining our regular quarterly cash distributions to our
unitholders and managing our debt levels.”
Commenting on expectations for 2008, he added, “We believe we are
off to a positive start in 2008. We are now a more geographically
diversified company. After our first full year of operating the new
parks, we have learned from what worked and what didn’t work, and we
have a marketing program in place at each of our parks for the
upcoming season which reflects those conclusions. For the full year,
we expect to generate revenues of $990 million to $1.02 billion,
driven primarily by improvements in attendance and in-park guest per
capita spending across our parks, as well as continued growth in
accommodations revenues at our resort properties. Based on revenue
expectations and continued disciplined expense control, we expect to
generate full-year adjusted EBITDA in the $340-355 million range.
With these results, we should be well positioned to achieve our goal
of continued reinvestment in our properties and growth in cash
distributions to our unitholders over the long-term.”
Management will host a conference call with analysts today, February
7, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, which will be web cast live in
“listen only” mode via the Cedar Fair web site (www.cedarfair.com).
It will also be available for replay starting at approximately 5:00
p.m. ET, Thursday, February 7, 2008, until 11:59 p.m. ET, Thursday,
February 21, 2008. In order to access the replay of the earnings
call, please dial 1-800-406-7325 followed by the access code
3831139.
Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in
Sandusky, Ohio, and one of the largest regional amusement-resort
operators in the world. The Partnership owns and operates 11
amusement parks, six outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and
five hotels. Amusement parks in the company’s Northern Region
include two in Ohio: Cedar Point, consistently voted “Best Amusement
Park in the World” in Amusement Today polls and Kings Island; as
well as Canada’s Wonderland, near Toronto; Dorney Park, PA;
Valleyfair, MN; and Michigan’s Adventure, MI. In the Southern Region
are Kings Dominion, VA; Carowinds, NC; and Worlds of Fun, MO.
Western parks in California include: Knott’s Berry Farm; Great
America; and Gilroy Gardens, which is managed under contract. Also
included in that region is Star Trek: The Experience, a Las
Vegas-based interactive adventure.
Some of the statements contained in this news release constitute
forward-looking statements. These statements may involve risk and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in such statements. Although the Partnership
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors,
including general economic conditions, competition for consumer
leisure time and spending, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated
construction delays and other factors could affect attendance at our
parks and cause actual results to differ materially from the
Partnership’s expectations. In addition, risks and uncertainties
concerning the acquisition of the Paramount Parks include, but are
not limited to the ability of the Partnership to combine the
operations and take advantage of growth, savings and synergy
opportunities.