Cedar Fair announces record revenues through Labor Day

New rides and attractions, enhanced guest experiences and hotel renovation drive record results

Thursday, 10 September 2015

Cedar Fair Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio, Sept. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, today announced that preliminary net revenues through Monday, September 7, 2015, increased 7% to a record $1.02 billion. As such, the Company expects 2015 to be its sixth consecutive year of record results.

The Company stated year-to-date net revenues through September 7, 2015, increased 7%, or $69 million, to $1.02 billion compared with $950 million a year ago. This year-over-year growth was driven by a 5%, or 1.0 million-visit, increase in attendance to 20.3 million visits; a 2%, or $0.73, increase in average in-park guest per capita spending to $46.21; and a 10%, or $10 million, increase in out-of-park revenues including resort accommodations to $108 million. On a constant-currency basis 1, net revenues through Labor Day would have increased 9% and average in-park guest per capita spending would be up 4%.

"We are extremely pleased with the continued growth we are experiencing across all areas of our business," said Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair's president and chief executive officer. "Our strategy of encouraging guests to visit our parks early and often has exceeded our expectations. This approach has resulted in higher season pass sales, higher season pass visits and more general admission visitors, while at the same time also generating higher guest spending."

Ouimet noted the Company had a very strong capital program this year where it introduced a world-record-breaking roller coaster at Carowinds, a new interactive dark ride at Knott's Berry Farm and a newly renovated hotel at Cedar Point. These investments, combined with the further development of its individual premium park brands and continued emphasis on enhancing the overall guest experience, were large contributors to its record results to date and will serve as anchors to its longer-term capital investment strategy.

"The consumer demand for our entertainment offerings has never been stronger and we are excited about the growth opportunities ahead of us," added Ouimet. "We have a solid lineup of new adrenaline-rushing and family-friendly experiences for our increasingly popular Halloween events this Fall; and our 2016 capital announcements have already been receiving national media attention. This includes Valravn, a world-record-breaking roller coaster at our flagship park, Cedar Point, and Carolina Harbor, the largest water park in the Carolinas, at Carowinds."

Ouimet concluded by stating the Company remains on track to achieve its FUNforward 2.0 long-term growth goal of $500 million, or more, in Adjusted EBITDA by 2018.

About Cedar Fair

Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio, and one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world. The Company owns and operates 11 amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. Its parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, and Toronto, Ontario. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in California under a management contract. Cedar Fair's flagship park, Cedar Point, has been consistently voted the "Best Amusement Park in the World" in a prestigious annual poll conducted by Amusement Today newspaper.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements as to the Company's expectations, beliefs and strategies regarding the future. 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 general economic conditions, adverse weather conditions, competition for consumer leisure time and spending, unanticipated construction delays, changes in the Company's capital investment plans and projects and other factors discussed from time to time by the Company in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") could affect attendance at the Company's parks and cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations. Additional information on risk factors that may affect the business and financial results of the Company can be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the filings of the Company made from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1 Constant-currency is not a currency measure computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and is not intended to be a substitute for the Company's reported currency, as defined by GAAP. For this purpose, the Company computes constant-currency by applying the average year-to-date effective foreign exchange rate for the prior year period to the current year period. Accordingly, the Company's computation of constant-currency may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. Management believes this measure, which removes the effect of period-over-period foreign exchange, facilitates better comparisons of operating results.