SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, Feb. 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX), the world's largest regional theme park operator, today announced its fifth consecutive year of record financial performance as it posted a company-high $1.2 billion in revenue, an increase of $66 million or 6 percent over 2013. The company generated full-year 2014 Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $439 million, also a new record that represented an increase of $35 million or 9 percent over 2013.
"I have never been more confident in our strategy and the long-term prospects for our company than I am today," said Jim Reid-Anderson, Chairman, President and CEO. "Guest satisfaction scores have reached another all-time high and employee morale is better than ever. We are extremely well-positioned as we enter the 2015 season with a 25 percent gain in our Active Pass Base, and we remain laser-focused on delivering our next long-term financial target of $600 million of Modified EBITDA by 2017."
Fourth quarter 2014 Adjusted EBITDA improved $11 million or 30 percent to a record $46 million, generated from a $29 million or 19 percent increase in revenue. The strong revenue growth was primarily driven by a 3 percent increase in guest spending and a 15 percent increase in attendance as the company expanded both its highly-popular Fright Fest(®) Halloween event and its family-favorite Holiday in the Park(®) event, including the introduction of Holiday in the Park events at two additional parks during the quarter.
Despite a higher mix of season pass visitation during the fourth quarter, total guest spending per capita increased $0.96 or 3 percent to $38.95, which included a 6 percent or $1.20 increase in admissions per capita and a 1 percent or $0.24 decline in in-park revenue per capita.
For the fourth quarter 2014, Cash Earnings Per Share was $0.25, up $0.10 or 67 percent over the same period in 2013.
Full year 2014 revenue grew 6 percent to $1.2 billion primarily due to a 7 percent increase in admissions revenue, a 3 percent increase in sales inside the parks, and fees related to the company's initiatives to expand its brand in growing international markets. Early in 2014, the company announced two partnerships to develop Six Flags-branded theme parks outside North America--one in the Middle East and another in China.
As a result of pricing initiatives and the introduction of new and enhanced offerings in the parks, total guest spending per capita in 2014 grew $2.79 or 7 percent over the prior year to $42.97. Admissions per capita for the year increased $1.99 or 9 percent to $25.02 while in-park spending per capita grew $0.80 or 5 percent to $17.95.
Full year Cash Earnings Per Share(2) of $2.63 represented an increase of $0.18.
Modified EBITDA(3) for the year was $477 million, an increase of $33 million or 7 percent, and Modified EBITDA margin improved to a new industry high of 40.6 percent. Return on Invested Capital increased to 15 percent in 2014, from 14 percent in 2013.
Diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 was a loss of $0.37 and diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $0.77. Income Before Income Taxes included $46 million and $119 million in stock-based compensation charges for the fourth quarter and full year 2014, respectively, relating to both the actual achievement in 2014 and probable achievement in 2015 of certain targets of Project 500--a long-term incentive compensation program established by the company's board in August 2011. Excluding the Project 500 stock-based compensation charge, diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 was a loss of $0.07 and diluted earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $1.53, up 30 percent.
Total attendance for the year was 25.6 million guests, which represented a 2 percent decline that was primarily due to extended school calendars in the first half of 2014 relating to the harsh 2013/2014 winter. The company generated 4 percent attendance growth in the second half of 2014 and a 15 percent increase in attendance in the fourth quarter. The combined season pass and membership attendance mix increased from 48 percent in 2013 to 50 percent in 2014.
As a result of continued strength in sales, the company's Active Pass Base, which includes guests who either own a Season Pass or are in the company's Membership program, increased 25 percent from December 31, 2013 to December 31, 2014.
In 2014 the company invested $108 million, or 9 percent of revenue, in new capital projects. During the year it paid its shareholders $184 million in dividends, or $1.93 per share--a 6 percent increase over 2013. The company also repurchased $195 million of its stock in 2014 at an average price of $37.86. Since the company initiated its share repurchase plan in 2011, it has repurchased over $1 billion of its stock at an average price of $31.20 and reduced its outstanding share count by 17 percent. As of December 31, 2014, $299 million remained unutilized under the company's share repurchase program.
Net Debt(4) as of December 31, 2014 was $1,322 million, which translates to a 3.0 times net leverage ratio.
Conference Call
At 8:00 a.m. Central Time tomorrow, February 19, 2015, the company will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2014 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 February 26, 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 including up-close animal encounters, Fright Fest(®) and Holiday in the Park(®). 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) 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 and the net
depreciation/amortization impacts relating to the
revaluation of assets in connection with the company's
emergence from Chapter 11 in April 2010.
(3) See Note 3 to the following financial statements for a
discussion of Modified EBITDA and its reconciliation to
net income (loss).
(4) Net Debt represents total long-term debt, including
current portion, less cash and cash equivalents.
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Statement of Operations Data (1)
Three Months Ended Year Ended
------------------ ----------
(Amounts in thousands, December 31, December 31, December 31, December 31,
except per share data) 2014 2013 2014 2013
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Theme park admissions $95,577 $78,911 $641,535 $602,204
Theme park food,
merchandise and other 70,522 62,200 460,131 448,547
Sponsorship, licensing and
other fees 14,812 10,115 57,250 42,179
Accommodations revenue 2,770 2,962 16,877 17,000
Total revenue 183,681 154,188 1,175,793 1,109,930
Operating expenses
(excluding depreciation
and amortization shown
separately below) 85,391 76,556 437,431 417,482
Selling, general and
administrative expense
(excluding depreciation,
amortization and stock-
based compensation shown
separately below) 39,028 31,093 170,917 162,184
Costs of products sold 13,194 11,122 90,515 86,663
Depreciation 26,442 27,271 105,449 113,682
Amortization 663 3,597 2,658 14,393
Stock-based compensation 50,771 5,538 140,038 27,034
Loss on disposal of assets 1,679 1,620 5,860 8,579
Gain on sale of investee - - (10,031) -
Interest expense, net 18,309 18,565 72,589 74,145
Loss on debt
extinguishment - 789 - 789
Other expense, net 616 37 356 1,054
(Loss) income from
continuing operations
before income taxes and
discontinued operations (52,412) (22,000) 160,011 203,925
Income tax (benefit)
expense (17,750) (34,760) 46,522 47,601
(Loss) income from
continuing operations
before discontinued
operations (34,662) 12,760 113,489 156,324
Income from discontinued
operations 545 549 545 549
Net (loss) income (34,117) 13,309 114,034 156,873
Less: Net loss (income)
attributable to
noncontrolling interests - 6 (38,012) (38,321)
Net (loss) income
attributable to Six Flags
Entertainment Corporation $(34,117) $13,315 $76,022 $118,552
======== ======= ======= ========
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding:
Weighted-average number
of common shares
outstanding - basic 93,222 95,070 94,477 96,940
Weighted-average number
of common shares
outstanding - diluted 93,222 98,661 98,139 100,371
Net (loss) income per average common
share outstanding-basic:
(Loss) income from
continuing operations $(0.38) $0.13 $0.79 $1.21
Income from discontinued
operations 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Net (loss) income $(0.37) $0.14 $0.80 $1.22
====== ===== ===== =====
Net (loss) income per average common
share outstanding-diluted:
(Loss) income from
continuing operations $(0.38) $0.12 $0.76 $1.17
Income from discontinued
operations 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
Net (loss) income $(0.37) $0.13 $0.77 $1.18
====== ===== ===== =====
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net (loss) income to Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow for the three months and years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013:
Three Months Ended Year Ended
------------------ ----------
(Amounts in December 31, December 31, December 31, December 31,
thousands, except 2014 2013 2014 2013
per share data)
------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
Net (loss) income $(34,117) $13,309 $114,034 $156,873
Income from
discontinued
operations (545) (549) (545) (549)
Income tax (benefit)
expense (17,750) (34,760) 46,522 47,601
Other expense, net 616 37 356 1,054
Loss on debt
extinguishment - 789 - 789
Interest expense, net 18,309 18,565 72,589 74,145
Loss on disposal of
assets 1,679 1,620 5,860 8,579
Gain on sale of
investee - - (10,031) -
Amortization 663 3,597 2,658 14,393
Depreciation 26,442 27,271 105,449 113,682
Stock-based
compensation 50,771 5,538 140,038 27,034
Impact of Fresh Start
valuation
adjustments (2) 94 152 369 594
--- ---
Modified EBITDA (3) 46,162 35,569 477,299 444,195
Third party interest
in EBITDA of certain
operations (4) - (3) (38,012) (40,083)
Adjusted EBITDA (3) 46,162 35,566 439,287 404,112
Cash paid for
interest, net (6,366) (6,619) (66,677) (51,349)
Capital expenditures,
net of property
insurance recoveries
in 2014 (12,390) (12,671) (107,810) (101,853)
Cash taxes (5) (4,144) (2,321) (16,772) (13,768)
Free Cash Flow (6) $23,262 $13,955 $248,028 $237,142
======= ======= ======== ========
Weighted-average
number of common
shares outstanding -
basic 93,222 95,070 94,477 96,940
Cash Earnings Per
Share $0.25 $0.15 $2.63 $2.45
===== ===== ===== =====
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Balance Sheet Data (1)
As of
-----
(Amounts in December 31, December 31,
thousands) 2014 2013
------------ -------------
Cash and cash
equivalents
(excluding
restricted cash) $73,884 $169,310
Total assets 2,534,919 2,607,814
Deferred income 71,598 60,443
Current portion of
long-term debt 6,301 6,269
Long-term debt
(excluding
current portion) 1,389,215 1,394,334
Redeemable
noncontrolling
interests 437,545 437,569
Total equity 223,895 373,337
Shares outstanding 92,938 94,857
(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) plus
the Company's interest in the
Adjusted EBITDA of dick clark
productions, inc., which was sold in
September 2012. 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, plus the Company's
interest in the Adjusted EBITDA of
dick clark productions, inc., which
are less than wholly owned. The
Company purchased the noncontrolling
interests from its partners in the
Lodge in 2013 and sold its interest
in dick clark productions, inc. in
September 2012.
(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
