Six Flags Reports Quarterly Loss

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GRAND PRAIRIE

Six Flags Entertainment Group, the nation’s largest operator of regional theme parks, said it lost $34.1 million in the fourth quarter as compensation increased for its executives.

 

The Grand Prairie-based company reported a net loss of $34.1 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with a profit of $13.3 million, or 13 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding stock-based compensation charges, the loss was narrowed to 7 cents a share.

 

The company said it paid out $50.7 million in stock-based compensation during the quarter, compared with $5.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.

 

However, Six Flags said another measure of earnings, adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), totaled a record $439 million last year, a 9 percent increase over 2013. The company took a $17.7 million income tax benefit in the fourth quarter, compared with $34.7 million a year ago.

 

Six Flags operates 18 parks, including Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor in Arlington. In November, it settled a lawsuit with the family of a 52-year-old Dallas woman who was killed in 2013 when she fell from the Texas Giant roller coaster. Terms of that settlement were not released.

 

Revenue for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 was $183.6 million, up from $154.1 million a year ago. Revenue for the year increased $66 million, or 6 percent, to nearly $1.2 billion, the company said. Revenue grew partly because of a 7 percent increase in admissions revenue and a 3 percent increase in sales inside the parks and fees it earned by expanding its brand to the Middle East and China.

 

For the year, Six Flags said it made a $76 million profit, down from $118.5 million in 2013.

 

The results were released after the close of trading. Shares of Six Flags (ticker: SIX) closed up 92 cents at $46.31.

 

Total guest spending per capita grew $2.79, or 7 percent, to $42.97 in 2014, the company said.

 

Attendance for the year dropped to 25.6 million guests, off 2 percent. The company said bad weather in much of the country during the first half of 2014 lowered attendance because it extended school calendars. About 50 percent of its guests now use a season pass or membership pass, up from 48 percent in 2013, the company said.

 

“I have never been more confident in our strategy and the long-term prospects for our company than I am today,” Jim Reid-Anderson, the chairman, president and CEO, said in a news release. “Guest satisfaction scores have reached another all-time high and employee morale is better than ever.”

 

On Dec. 31, the company said it had $73.8 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand, down from $169.3 million at the end of 2013.

 

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