EXHIBIT 99.1
[Six Flags logo] NEWS
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FOR: SIX FLAGS, INC.
CONTACT: Jim Dannhauser, Chief Financial Officer
122 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10168
(212) 599-4693
KCSA Erika Levy/ Joseph A. Mansi
CONTACTS: (212) 896-1208 / (212) 896-1205
elevy@kcsa.com/ jmansi@kcsa.com
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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SIX FLAGS REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE
o SOLID YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
o AFFIRMS FULL YEAR OUTLOOK
- - - - -
NEW YORK, May 4, 2005 - Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: PKS) announced today
its results of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2005.
Revenues for the 2005 quarter were $54.4 million, representing a
21.3% increase from the 2004 quarter. The increase reflects an attendance
increase of 330,000, or 25.1%, resulting from a positive market reaction to our
new capital additions, especially in our Mexico City park, as well as the
greater number of operating days due to the timing of the Easter holiday.
Revenue per capita declined by 3.0% for the quarter, reflecting primarily the
larger percentage of operations in the quarter from our Mexico City park, which
has lower per capita revenues than our domestic operations. This is expected to
reverse as we move into our key domestic operating season.
Operating costs and expenses, including depreciation and amortization
and non-cash compensation, were $171.5 million in the first quarter of 2005, as
compared to $162.0 million in the 2004 quarter, an increase of 5.8%. Excluding
depreciation and amortization and non-cash compensation, cash operating costs
and expenses were $133.7 million in 2005, as compared to $124.9 million for
2004, an increase of $8.8 million (7.0%). This increase includes $1.3 million in
increased costs of goods sold primarily reflecting higher in-park revenues. It
also includes other planned increases in operating expenses reflecting the
earlier commencement of park operations in many markets due to the timing of the
Easter holiday.
(more)
11501 Northeast Expressway o Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
73131o Tel: 405-475-2500 o Fax: 405-475-2555
122 East 42nd Street o 49th Floor o New York, New York 10168
o Tel: 212-599-4690 o Fax: 212-949-6203
SIX FLAG REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE
PAGE 2
EBITDA (Modified) was ($79.3) million in the first quarter of 2005 as
compared to ($80.1) million in the 2004 quarter. Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes
the interests of third parties in EBITDA from our non-wholly owned parks, was
($74.0) million in the 2005 quarter, as compared to ($74.1) million in the 2004
quarter. (1)
The loss from continuing operations in the 2005 quarter was $178.7
million. The loss reflects the recognition of an additional valuation allowance
of $67.2 million recorded in 2005 with respect to the Company's domestic
deferred tax asset, solely as a result of off-season losses. This has the effect
of increasing book tax expense for the period by the amount of the allowance.
This has no effect on the Company's cash tax expense or its ability to utilize
net operating loss carry forwards in future profitable years. Absent this
valuation allowance, the loss from continuing operations would have been $111.5
million in the 2005 quarter, as compared to $119.9 million in 2004.
DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
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Kieran E. Burke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Six Flags,
said, "We are pleased with the start of our 2005 season.
"We have seen good performance in the aggregate at our parks that are
currently in operation, although operations in the first quarter and year to
date are not meaningful portions of our full year. Attendance year to date
through last Sunday is 4.2% ahead of the prior year and park level revenues are
up by 3.3% year over year. Further, we continue to experience growth in hard
ticket group bookings and are substantially ahead in season pass sales.
"We expect attendance growth in 2005 to be driven by our robust plan
for capital additions to our parks combined with our ongoing guest service
initiatives. That plan encompasses new attractions in 13 of our 18 domestic
theme parks and three of our water parks, and a children's area in our Montreal
park, with the largest initiatives concentrated in our major markets, especially
in Chicago and New Jersey. We have also added a major new roller coaster in our
park in Mexico City which continues to experience strong year over year
attendance gains. We believe that this investment program should drive
significant attendance and revenue growth in 2005 and set the stage for several
years of significant growth.
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(1) See note 3 to the following tables for a discussion of EBITDA (Modified)
and Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of these amounts to net loss.
SIX FLAG REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE
PAGE 3
"We continue to anticipate generating Adjusted EBITDA of $300 million
in 2005. This is based on expected attendance growth of approximately 4.75% and
a per capita spending increase of approximately 2.5%."
Six Flags, Inc. is the world's largest regional theme park company.
The information contained in this news 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.
Although the Company 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
factors impacting attendance, such as local conditions, events, disturbances and
terrorist activities, risks of accidents occurring at the Company's parks,
adverse weather conditions, general economic conditions (including consumer
spending patterns), competition, pending, threatened or future legal proceedings
and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the
Company's expectations. 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 "Business - Risk
Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2004, which is available free of charge on the Company's website
(www.sixflags.com).
This release and prior releases are available on the Company's Worldwide Web
site at www.sixflags.com.
You may register to receive Six Flags, Inc. future press releases or to download
a complete Digital Investor Kit(TM) including press releases, regulatory filings
and corporate materials by clicking on the "Digital Investor Kit(TM)" icon at
www.kcsa.com.
(Tables to follow)
SIX FLAG REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE
PAGE 4
SIX FLAGS, INC.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA (1)
QUARTERS ENDED MARCH 31, 2005 AND 2004
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
THREE MONTHS ENDED
MARCH 31,
(UNAUDITED)
-------------------------------
2005 2004
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Revenue........................................................ $ 54,380 $ 44,813
Costs and expenses (excluding depreciation,
amortization and non-cash compensation) .................. 133,706 124,904
Depreciation................................................... 37,246 36,656
Amortization................................................... 222 326
Non-cash compensation ......................................... 288 161
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Income (loss) from operations ................................. (117,082) (117,234)
Interest expense (net)......................................... (44,745) (51,907)
Minority interest in losses.................................... 6,563 7,354
Early repurchase of debt....................................... (19,303) (25,177)
Other expense.................................................. (3,197) (2,945)
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Loss from continuing operations (177,674) (189,909)
before income taxes.......................................
Income tax expense (benefit)................................... 955 (69,994)
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Loss from continuing operations ............................... (178,719) (119,915)
Discontinued operations, net of tax benefit of
$55,759 in 2004.............................................. - (284,904)
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Net loss ...................................................... $ (178,719) $ (404,819)
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Net loss applicable to common stock ........................... $ (184,212) $ (410,312)
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Per share - basic and diluted:
Loss from continuing operations........................... $ (1.98) $ (1.35)
Discontinued operations................................... - (3.06)
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Net loss ................................................. $ (1.98) $ (4.41)
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OTHER DATA:
Loss from continuing operations before valuation allowance
and loss on early repurchase of debt (2).................. $ (97,663) $ (109,798)
Loss from continuing operations per common share (basic and
diluted) before valuation allowance and loss on early
repurchase of debt (2).................................... $ (1.05) $ (1.18)
EBITDA (Modified) (3) ......................................... $ (79,326) $ (80,091)
Adjusted EBITDA(3)............................................. $ (73,983) $ (74,108)
Average weighted shares outstanding - basic and diluted........ 93,104 93,018
Net cash used in operating activities.......................... $ (97,298) $ (104,118)
SIX FLAG REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE
PAGE 5
BALANCE SHEET DATA
(IN THOUSANDS)
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March 31, 2005 December 31, 2004
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(Unaudited)
Cash and cash equivalents (excluding restricted cash)............. $ 64,184 $ 68,807
Total assets...................................................... 3,535,401 3,642,227
Current portion of long-term debt (excluding debt called
for repayment)............................................... 171,384 24,394
Long-term debt (excluding current portion) ....................... 2,137,048 2,125,121
Mandatorily redeemable preferred stock............................ 282,527 282,245
Total stockholders' equity ....................................... 640,322 826,065
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(1) Revenues and expenses of international operations are converted into
dollars on a current basis as provided by accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States ("GAAP").
(2) The Company's reported results include items of income and expense that we
believe are typically excluded by securities analysts in their published
estimates for the Company's financial results. These excluded items include
gains and losses on early repurchases of debt and deferred tax asset
valuation allowances. The following tables set forth the calculation of net
loss applicable to common stock and net loss applicable to common stock per
common share (basic) before giving effect to those excluded items and
before discontinued operation, in the case of the 2004 period. This measure
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.
(In thousands)
---------------------------------
THREE MONTHS ENDED
MARCH 31,
---------------------------------
2005 2004
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(Unaudited)
Net loss applicable to common stock............. $ (184,212) $ (410,312)
Discontinued operations, net of tax............. - 284,904
Valuation allowance............................. 67,246 -
Early repurchase of debt........................ 19,303 25,177
Income tax benefit from early
repurchase of debt............................ - (9,567)
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Loss from continuing operations before
valuation allowance and loss on early
repurchase of debt......................... $ (97,663) $ (109,798)
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LOSS PER COMMON SHARE (BASIC)
- -----------------------------
---------------------------------
THREE MONTHS ENDED
MARCH 31,
---------------------------------
2005 2004
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Net loss applicable to common stock
per share...................................... $ (1.98) $ (4.41)
Discontinued operations, net of tax............. - 3.06
Valuation allowance............................. 0.72 -
Early repurchase of debt........................ 0.21 0.27
Income tax benefit from early
repurchase of debt ............................ - (0.10)
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Loss from continuing operations per common
share (basic and diluted) before valuation
allowance and loss on early repurchase of debt... $ (1.05) $ (1.18)
============== ==============
SIX FLAG REPORTS FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE
PAGE 6
(3) EBITDA (Modified) is defined as net loss before discontinued operations,
income tax expense (benefit), other expense, early repurchase of debt (formerly
extraordinary loss), minority interest in earnings (losses), interest expense
(net), non-cash compensation, amortization and depreciation. Adjusted EBITDA is
defined as EBITDA (Modified) minus the interest of third parties in EBITDA of
the four parks that are less than wholly owned. The Company believes that EBITDA
(Modified) and Adjusted EBITDA (collectively, the "EBITDA-Based Measures")
provide useful information to investors regarding the Company's operating
performance and its capacity to incur and service debt and fund capital
expenditures. The Company believes that the EBITDA-Based Measures are used by
many investors, equity analysts and rating agencies as a measure of performance.
In addition, Adjusted EBITDA is approximately equal to "Consolidated Cash Flow"
as defined in the indentures relating to the Company's senior notes. Neither of
the EBITDA-Based Measures is defined by GAAP and neither should 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.
The following table sets forth a reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA
(Modified) and Adjusted EBITDA for the periods shown (in thousands).
THREE MONTHS ENDED
MARCH 31,
---------------------------------
2005 2004
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(Unaudited)
Net loss $ (178,719) $ (404,819)
Discontinued operations, net of tax benefit - 284,904
Income tax expense (benefit) 955 (69,994)
Other expense 3,197 2,945
Early repurchase of debt 19,303 25,177
Minority interest in losses (6,563) (7,354)
Interest expense (net) 44,745 51,907
Non-cash compensation 288 161
Amortization 222 326
Depreciation 37,246 36,656
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EBITDA (Modified) (79,326) (80,091)
Third party interest in EBITDA of certain parks(a) 5,343 5,983
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Adjusted EBITDA $ (73,983) $ (74,108)
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The Company is not able as of this date to provide a reliable
estimate of its income tax benefit and other income (expense) for the year
ending December 31, 2005. Therefore, a reliable estimate of its net loss for
that year is not available. Accordingly, the following table sets forth a
reconciliation of expected income from operations for 2005 to expected EBITDA
(Modified) and expected Adjusted EBITDA for such year. Since the EBITDA-Based
Measures are calculated before income taxes and other expense, the absence of
estimates with respect to these items would not affect the expected EBITDA-Based
Measures presented. For 2005, expected interest expense (net) is approximately
$185,000,000 and expected minority interest in earnings is approximately
$39,000,000.
Year Ending
December 31, 2005
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Income from operations $ 186,300
Non-cash compensation 800
Amortization 900
Depreciation 156,000
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EBITDA (Modified) 344,000
Third-party interest in EBITDA of certain parks(a) 44,000
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Adjusted EBITDA $ 300,000
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(a) Represents interest of third parties in EBITDA of Six Flags Over Georgia,
Six Flags Over Texas, Six Flags White Water Atlanta and Six Flags Marine World.
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