SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX), the world's largest regional theme park company, today announced double-digit growth in its first-quarter key performance metrics with a 16 percent growth in revenue and a 13 percent improvement in Adjusted EBITDA(1). In the quarter the company reported $85 million of revenue, which represented an $11 million or 16 percent increase over the same quarter in 2014, and also generated a $5 million or 13 percent improvement in Adjusted EBITDA. Since most of the parks are not open during the first quarter, Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $38 million, which was the company's best ever first-quarter performance. Modified EBITDA(3) for the twelve months ending March 31, 2015 was $483 million, an increase of $44 million or 10 percent compared to the twelve months ending March 31, 2014, and Modified EBITDA margin improved to a new industry high of 40.7 percent.
"Our 2015 season is off to an excellent start with record-high guest satisfaction scores, record-high profitability, and double-digit improvements in all key performance metrics, including a 53 percent growth in our Active Pass Base compared to the prior year period," said Jim Reid-Anderson, Chairman, President and CEO. "We remain intently focused on building shareholder value by delivering an unprecedented sixth year in a row of record financial performance in 2015, and working toward achieving our long-term financial target of $600 million of Modified EBITDA by 2017."
The strong revenue growth in the quarter was primarily driven by a 13 percent increase in attendance and a 3 percent increase in admissions per capita spending. Attendance in the first quarter grew to 1.6 million guests.
Total guest spending per capita for the first quarter was $43.82, which was essentially flat with the first quarter of 2014. Admissions per capita increased $0.83 or 3 percent to $25.84 and in-park spending per capita decreased $0.74 or 4 percent to $17.98. All of the revenue per capita comparisons to prior year were adversely impacted by foreign exchange translation and a higher mix of season pass and membership attendance, which puts downward pressure on revenue per capita. Six Flags Mexico represents a higher percentage of total company revenue in the first quarter and the Mexican Peso weakened versus the U.S. dollar by 13 percent from the first quarter of 2014. On a constant currency basis, in the first quarter admissions per capita increased $1.37 or 6 percent, and in-park spending per capita decreased $0.19 or 1 percent.
The loss per share for the first quarter was $0.75, compared to a loss per share of $0.64 in 2014, driven entirely by higher stock-based compensation expense. Loss before income taxes included $18 million in stock-based compensation charges in the first quarter of 2015 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, the loss per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 was $0.62, an improvement of 3 percent compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2014.
Cash Earnings Per Share(2) for the twelve months ending March 31, 2015 was $2.78, and represented an increase of $0.61 or 28 percent as compared to the same period in the prior year.
As a result of continued strong sales of season passes and memberships, the company's Active Pass Base, which includes all members and season pass holders, increased 53 percent from March 31, 2014 to March 31, 2015.
In the first quarter of 2015, the company invested $34 million in new capital, paid $49 million in dividends, or $0.52 per common share, and repurchased $8 million of its common stock. Net Debt(4) as of March 31, 2015 was $1,458 million, which translates to a 3.3 times net leverage ratio.
Conference Call
At 8:00 a.m. Central Time today, April 22, 2015, the company will host a conference call to discuss its first 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 April 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 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.
(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, and
short-term bank borrowings less
cash and cash equivalents.
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Statement of Operations Data (1)
Three Months Ended
------------------
(Amounts in March 31, March 31,
thousands, except 2015 2014
per share data)
---------- ----------
Theme park
admissions $40,546 $34,710
Theme park food,
merchandise and
other 28,225 25,967
Sponsorship,
licensing and
other fees 11,442 8,178
Accommodations
revenue 4,942 4,863
Total revenue 85,155 73,718
Operating expenses
(excluding
depreciation and
amortization
shown separately
below) 83,362 81,628
Selling, general
and
administrative
expense
(excluding
depreciation,
amortization and
stock-based
compensation
shown separately
below) 32,280 28,975
Costs of products
sold 7,185 6,243
Depreciation 26,137 27,029
Amortization 658 665
Stock-based
compensation 22,307 5,359
Loss on disposal
of assets 666 1,792
Interest expense,
net 18,587 18,029
Other income, net (72) (190)
Loss before income
taxes (105,955) (95,812)
Income tax benefit (35,629) (34,611)
Net loss $(70,326) $(61,201)
======== ========
Weighted-average
number of common
shares
outstanding -
basic and
diluted: 93,855 94,958
Net loss per
average common
share outstanding
-basic and
diluted: $(0.75) $(0.64)
====== ======
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 and twelve months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014:
Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
------------------ -------------------
(Amounts in
thousands, except
per share data) March 31, 2015 March 31, 2014 March 31, 2015 March 31, 2014
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Net (loss) income $(70,326) $(61,201) $104,909 $157,785
Income from
discontinued
operations - - (545) (549)
Income tax (benefit)
expense (35,629) (34,611) 45,504 49,389
Other (income)
expense, net (72) (190) 474 1,286
Loss on debt
extinguishment - - - 789
Interest expense, net 18,587 18,029 73,147 73,777
Loss on disposal of
assets 666 1,792 4,734 9,301
Gain on sale of
investee - - (10,031) -
Amortization 658 665 2,651 11,459
Depreciation 26,137 27,029 104,557 109,164
Stock-based
compensation 22,307 5,359 156,986 25,296
Impact of Fresh Start
valuation
adjustments (2) 39 92 316 541
--- ---
Modified EBITDA (3) (37,633) (43,036) 482,702 438,238
Third party interest
in EBITDA of certain
operations (4) - - (38,012) (39,057)
Adjusted EBITDA (3) (37,633) (43,036) 444,690 399,181
Cash paid for
interest, net (27,561) (27,095) (67,143) (71,945)
Capital expenditures,
net of property
insurance recoveries (33,859) (42,120) (99,549) (107,373)
Cash taxes (5) (3,835) (4,430) (16,177) (12,790)
Free Cash Flow (6) $(102,888) $(116,681) $261,821 $207,073
========= ========= ======== ========
Weighted-average
number of common
shares outstanding -
basic 93,855 94,958 94,205 95,217
Cash (Loss) Earnings
Per Share $(1.10) $(1.23) $2.78 $2.17
====== ====== ===== =====
SIX FLAGS ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Balance Sheet Data (1)
As of
-----
(Amounts in thousands) March 31, December 31,
2015 2014
---------- ------------
Cash and cash
equivalents
(excluding restricted
cash) $16,348 $73,884
Total assets 2,480,428 2,534,919
Deferred income 98,939 71,598
Short-term bank
borrowings 80,000 -
Current portion of
long-term debt 6,303 6,301
Long-term debt
(excluding current
portion) 1,387,934 1,389,215
Redeemable
noncontrolling
interests 437,545 437,545
Total equity 124,588 223,895
Shares outstanding 94,867 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
