SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, July 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX), the world's largest regional theme park company, today announced another record financial performance in the second quarter of 2015 as revenue grew $10 million or 3 percent to $386 million and Adjusted EBITDA(1) grew $4 million or 3 percent to $149 million. Comparisons to prior year were adversely impacted by foreign exchange rate translations from the company's parks in Mexico and Canada and on a constant currency(2) basis, revenue grew $14 million or 4 percent and Adjusted EBITDA grew $5 million or 4 percent.
For the first six months of 2015, revenue grew $21 million or 5 percent to $471 million, and Adjusted EBITDA grew $9 million or 9 percent to $111 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue for the first six months of 2015 grew $27 million or 6 percent and Adjusted EBITDA grew $11 million or 11 percent.
"We have delivered yet another record quarter and year-to-date performance," said Jim Reid-Anderson, Chairman, President and CEO. "Our innovative new attractions have received rave reviews, guest satisfaction scores remain at all-time highs, season pass and pricing initiatives are working well and we are highly encouraged by the trends in our business. With strong momentum across all of our parks and a 32 percent increase in our Active Pass Base, we are very well positioned as we head into the back half of the year and work toward achieving our long-term target of $600 million of Modified EBITDA by 2017."
For the twelve months ending June 30, 2015, revenue increased $88 million or 8 percent to $1.2 billion, Adjusted EBITDA increased $42 million or 10 percent to $448 million, and Cash EPS(3) increased $0.62 or 28 percent to $2.85. The company's record-high trailing twelve months Modified EBITDA(4) and Modified EBITDA minus Capex margins of 40.7 percent and 32.6 percent, respectively, remain the highest in the theme park industry, helping drive the cash earnings growth.
Attendance in the second quarter increased 9 percent to 8.9 million guests, and year-to-date attendance grew 9 percent to 10.4 million guests. Attendance gains were driven by a strong response to new attractions and by increased visitation of season pass holders and members.
The company's Active Pass Base, which represents the total number of guests who have purchased a season pass or who are enrolled in the company's membership program, increased 32 percent from June 30, 2014 to June 30, 2015. The significant increase in the Active Pass Base is in line with the company's overall strategy to upsell guests to multi-visit passes as season pass holders and members are the company's most valuable guests, generating higher revenue and cash flow than a single day guest and providing an excellent full-year hedge against inclement weather.
Deferred revenue of $149 million increased by $20 million or 16 percent over June 30, 2014 primarily due to incremental sales of season passes and memberships.
Total guest spending per capita for the second quarter was $41.55, which was down $2.18 or 5 percent as compared to the second quarter of 2014 primarily due to the substantially higher mix of season pass holder and member attendance. Admissions per capita decreased 7 percent to $23.35 and in-park spending per capita decreased 2 percent to $18.20, also primarily due to attendance mix. For the first six months of 2015, guest spending per capita declined 4 percent. On a constant currency basis, second quarter and year-to-date guest spending per capita decreased $1.71 or 4 percent and $1.26 or 3 percent, respectively.
Diluted earnings per share for the second quarter was $0.67, which was flat to prior year.
In the first half of 2015, the company invested $70 million in new capital, paid $98 million in dividends, or $0.52 per common share per quarter, and repurchased $21 million of its common stock. Net Debt(5) as of June 30, 2015 was $1,371 million, which translates to a 3.1 times net leverage ratio.
Previous Announcement
On June 30, 2015 the company announced it had completed the refinancing of its bank credit facilities, including increasing the amount of its Term Loan B from $569 million to $700 million and increasing the amount of its revolving credit facility from $200 million to $250 million. The company intends to use approximately $120 million of the incremental proceeds for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases. As of June 30, 2015, the company had approximately $278 million available for stock repurchases under its share repurchase plan previously authorized by the board of directors.
Conference Call
At 8:00 a.m. Central Time today, July 22, 2015, the company will host a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2015 financial performance. The call is accessible either through the Six Flags Investor Relations website at www.sixflags.com/investors or by dialing 1-855-889-1976 in the United States or +1-937-641-0558 outside the United States and requesting the Six Flags earnings call. A replay of the call will be available by dialing 1-855-859-2056 or +1-404-537-3406 through July 29, 2015.
About Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world's largest regional theme park company with $1.2 billion in revenue and 18 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada. For 54 years, Six Flags has entertained millions of families with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks and unique attractions. For more information, visit www.sixflags.com.
Forward Looking Statements
The information contained in this release, other than historical information, consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, (i) the adequacy of cash flows from operations, available cash and available amounts under our credit facilities to meet our future liquidity needs, (ii) our ability to roll out our capital enhancements in a timely and cost effective manner, (iii) our ability to improve operating results by implementing strategic cost reductions, and organizational and personnel changes without adversely affecting our business, (iv) our operations and results of operations, and (v) the risk factors or uncertainties listed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). In addition, important factors, including factors impacting attendance, such as local conditions, contagious diseases, events, disturbances and terrorist activities; recall of food, toys and other retail products sold at our parks; risk of accidents occurring at the company's parks or other parks in the industry and adverse publicity concerning our parks or other parks in the industry; inability to achieve desired improvements and financial performance targets set forth in our aspirational goals; adverse weather conditions such as excess heat or cold, rain and storms; general financial and credit market conditions; economic conditions (including customer spending patterns); changes in public and consumer tastes; construction delays in capital improvements or ride downtime; competition with other theme parks and other entertainment alternatives; dependence on a seasonal workforce; unionization activities and labor disputes; laws and regulations affecting labor and employee benefit costs, including increases in state and federally mandated minimum wages, and healthcare reform; pending, threatened or future legal proceedings and the significant expenses associated with litigation; cyber security risks and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will be realized and actual results could vary materially. Reference is made to a more complete discussion of forward-looking statements and applicable risks contained under the captions "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and its other filings and submissions with the SEC, each of which are available free of charge on the company's investor relations website at www.sixflags.com/investors and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Footnotes
---------
(1) See the following financial
statements and Note 3 to those
financial statements for a
discussion of Adjusted EBITDA and
its reconciliation to net income
(loss).
(2) Constant Currency calculations
assume prior year results are
translated at current year foreign
exchange rates.
(3) Cash EPS (or Cash Earnings Per
Share), which is defined as Free
Cash Flow, as described in Note 6
to the following financial
statements, divided by the weighted
average basic shares outstanding,
is not a U.S. GAAP defined measure.
The company believes this measure
provides meaningful profitability
metrics, given current accumulated
tax loss carryforwards.
(4) See Note 3 to the following
financial statements for a
discussion of Modified EBITDA and
its reconciliation to net income
(loss).
(5) Net Debt represents total long-term
debt, including current portion,
and any short-term bank
borrowings, less cash and cash
equivalents.
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Statement of Operations Data (1)
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
------------------ ----------------
(Amounts in thousands,
except per share data) June 30, 2015 June 30, 2014 June 30, 2015 June 30, 2014
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Theme park admissions $206,998 $205,428 $247,544 $240,138
Theme park food, merchandise
and other 161,419 151,772 189,644 177,739
Sponsorship, licensing and
other fees 13,676 15,543 25,118 23,721
Accommodations revenue 3,972 3,808 8,914 8,671
Total revenue 386,065 376,551 471,220 450,269
Operating expenses
(excluding depreciation and
amortization shown
separately below) 132,771 126,531 216,133 208,159
Selling, general and
administrative expense
(excluding depreciation,
amortization and stock-
based compensation shown
separately below) 50,994 54,420 83,274 83,395
Costs of products sold 34,182 31,348 41,367 37,591
Depreciation 24,925 25,511 51,062 52,540
Amortization 657 665 1,315 1,330
Stock-based compensation 4,408 5,740 26,715 11,099
Loss on disposal of assets 1,567 781 2,233 2,573
Gain on sale of investee - (10,031) - (10,031)
Interest expense, net 18,938 17,787 37,525 35,816
Loss on debt extinguishment 6,557 - 6,557 -
Other income, net (407) (64) (479) (254)
Income before income taxes 111,473 123,863 5,518 28,051
Income tax expense (benefit) 26,859 38,551 (8,770) 3,940
Net income 84,614 85,312 14,288 24,111
Net income attributable to
noncontrolling interests (19,082) (19,006) (19,082) (19,006)
Net income (loss)
attributable to Six Flags
Entertainment Corporation $65,532 $66,306 $(4,794) $5,105
======= ======= ======= ======
Weighted-average number of common shares
outstanding:
Weighted-average number of
common shares outstanding -
basic 94,834 95,224 94,347 95,091
Weighted-average number of
common shares outstanding -
diluted 97,382 99,162 94,347 99,008
Net income (loss) per average common share
outstanding:
Net income (loss) per
average common share
outstanding -basic $0.69 $0.70 $(0.05) $0.05
===== ===== ====== =====
Net income (loss) per
average common share
outstanding -diluted $0.67 $0.67 $(0.05) $0.05
===== ===== ====== =====
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and June 30, 2014:
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
------------------ ----------------
(Amounts in thousands,
except per share data) June 30, 2015 June 30, 2014 June 30, 2015 June 30, 2014
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net income $84,614 $85,312 $14,288 $24,111
Income tax expense
(benefit) 26,859 38,551 (8,770) 3,940
Other income, net (407) (64) (479) (254)
Loss on debt
extinguishment 6,557 - 6,557 -
Interest expense, net 18,938 17,787 37,525 35,816
Loss on disposal of
assets 1,567 781 2,233 2,573
Gain on sale of
investee - (10,031) - (10,031)
Amortization 657 665 1,315 1,330
Depreciation 24,925 25,511 51,062 52,540
Stock-based
compensation 4,408 5,740 26,715 11,099
Impact of Fresh Start
valuation adjustments
(2) 39 91 78 183
--- ---
Modified EBITDA (3) 168,157 164,343 130,524 121,307
Third party interest in
EBITDA of certain
operations (4) (19,082) (19,006) (19,082) (19,006)
Adjusted EBITDA (3) 149,075 145,337 111,442 102,301
Cash paid for interest,
net (6,944) (5,909) (34,505) (33,004)
Capital expenditures,
net of property
insurance recoveries (36,216) (39,225) (70,075) (81,345)
Cash taxes (5) (1,098) (1,908) (4,933) (6,338)
Free Cash Flow (6) $104,817 $98,295 $1,929 $(18,386)
======== ======= ====== ========
Weighted-average
number of common
shares outstanding -
basic 94,834 95,224 94,347 95,091
Cash Earnings (Loss)
Per Share $1.11 $1.03 $0.02 $(0.19)
===== ===== ===== ======
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow for
the twelve months ended June 30, 2015 and June 30, 2014:
Last Twelve Months Ended
------------------------
(Amounts in thousands,
except per share data) June 30, 2015 June 30, 2014
------------- -------------
Net income $104,211 $177,037
Income from
discontinued
operations (545) (549)
Income tax expense 33,812 55,585
Other expense, net 131 796
Loss on debt
extinguishment 6,557 789
Interest expense, net 74,298 72,984
Loss on disposal of
assets 5,520 8,518
Gain on sale of
investee - (10,031)
Amortization 2,643 8,525
Depreciation 103,971 107,111
Stock-based
compensation 155,654 23,714
Impact of Fresh Start
valuation adjustments
(2) 264 485
--- ---
Modified EBITDA (3) 486,516 444,964
Third party interest in
EBITDA of certain
operations (4) (38,088) (38,794)
Adjusted EBITDA (3) 448,428 406,170
Cash paid for interest,
net (68,178) (71,106)
Capital expenditures,
net of property
insurance recoveries (96,540) (110,859)
Cash taxes (5) (15,367) (12,087)
Free Cash Flow (6) $268,343 $212,118
======== ========
Weighted-average
number of common
shares outstanding -
basic 94,108 95,089
Cash Earnings Per Share $2.85 $2.23
===== =====
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Balance Sheet Data (1)
As of
-----
(Amounts in June 30, 2015 December 31,
thousands) 2014
------------- ------------
Cash and cash
equivalents
(excluding
restricted cash) $154,785 $73,884
Total assets 2,698,296 2,534,919
Deferred income 148,985 71,598
Current portion
of long-term
debt 7,484 6,301
Long-term debt
(excluding
current portion) 1,518,927 1,389,215
Redeemable
noncontrolling
interests 454,803 437,545
Total equity 135,475 223,895
Shares
outstanding 94,760 92,938
(1) Revenues and expenses of international
operations are converted into U.S.
dollars on an average basis as
provided by accounting principles
generally accepted in the United
States ("GAAP").
(2) Amounts recorded as valuation
adjustments and included in
reorganization items for the month of
April 2010 that would have been
included in Modified EBITDA and
Adjusted EBITDA, had fresh start
accounting not been applied. Balance
consists primarily of discounted
insurance reserves that will be
accreted through the statement of
operations each quarter through 2018.
(3) "Modified EBITDA", a non-GAAP
measure, is defined as the Company's
consolidated income (loss) from
continuing operations: excluding the
cumulative effect of changes in
accounting principles, discontinued
operations gains or losses, income
tax expense or benefit, restructure
costs or recoveries, reorganization
items (net), other income or expense,
gain or loss on early extinguishment
of debt, equity in income or loss of
investees, interest expense (net),
gain or loss on disposal of assets,
gain or loss on the sale of
investees, amortization,
depreciation, stock-based
compensation, and fresh start
accounting valuation adjustments. The
Company believes that Modified EBITDA
is useful to investors, equity
analysts and rating agencies as a
measure of the Company's performance.
The Company believes that Modified
EBITDA is a measure that can be
readily compared to other companies,
and the Company uses Modified EBITDA
in its internal evaluation of
operating effectiveness and decisions
regarding the allocation of
resources. Modified EBITDA is not
defined by GAAP and should not be
considered in isolation or as an
alternative to net income (loss),
income (loss) from continuing
operations, net cash provided by
(used in) operating, investing and
financing activities or other
financial data prepared in accordance
with GAAP or as an indicator of the
Company's operating performance.
Modified EBITDA as defined herein may
differ from similarly titled measures
presented by other companies.
"Adjusted EBITDA", a non-GAAP
measure, is defined as Modified
EBITDA minus the interests of third
parties in the Adjusted EBITDA of
properties that are less than wholly
owned (consisting of Six Flags Over
Georgia, Six Flags White Water
Atlanta, Six Flags Over Texas, and
Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor
Waterpark (the "Lodge") of which the
Company purchased the noncontrolling
interests from its partners in the
Lodge in 2013). The Company believes
that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful
information to investors regarding
the Company's operating performance
and its capacity to incur and service
debt and fund capital expenditures.
Adjusted EBITDA is approximately
equal to "Parent Consolidated
Adjusted EBITDA" as defined in the
Company's secured credit agreement,
except that Parent Consolidated
Adjusted EBITDA excludes Adjusted
EBITDA from equity investees that is
not distributed to the Company in
cash on a net basis and has
limitations on the amounts of certain
expenses that are excluded from the
calculation. Adjusted EBITDA is not
defined by GAAP and should not be
considered in isolation or as an
alternative to net income (loss),
income (loss) from continuing
operations, net cash provided by
(used in) operating, investing and
financing activities or other
financial data prepared in accordance
with GAAP or as an indicator of the
Company's operating performance.
Adjusted EBITDA as defined herein may
differ from similarly titled measures
presented by other companies.
(4) Represents interests of third parties
in the Adjusted EBITDA of Six Flags
Over Georgia, Six Flags Over Texas,
Six Flags White Water Atlanta and the
Lodge, which are less than wholly
owned. The Company purchased the
noncontrolling interests from its
partners in the Lodge in 2013.
(5) Based on our current federal net
operating loss carryforwards, we
believe we will continue to pay
minimal amounts for cash taxes for
the next three to four years. Cash
taxes paid represents statutory taxes
paid, primarily in Mexico.
(6) Free Cash Flow, a non-GAAP measure,
is defined as Adjusted EBITDA less
(i) cash paid for interest expense
net of interest income receipts, (ii)
capital expenditures net of property
insurance recoveries, and (iii) cash
taxes. The Company has excluded from
the definition of Free Cash Flow
deferred financing costs related to
the Company's debt due to the nature
of these items. The Company believes
that Free Cash Flow is useful to
investors, equity analysts and rating
agencies as a performance measure.
The Company uses Free Cash Flow in
its internal evaluation of operating
effectiveness and decisions regarding
the allocation of resources. Free
Cash Flow is not defined by GAAP and
should not be considered in isolation
or as an alternative to net income
(loss), income (loss) from continuing
operations, net cash provided by
(used in) operating, investing and
financing activities or other
financial data prepared in accordance
with GAAP or as an indicator of the
Company's operating performance. Free
Cash Flow as defined herein may
differ from similarly titled measures
presented by other companies.
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SOURCE Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
