Ellen Ingersoll
Analyst · Northcoast Research. Your line is now open
Thanks, Steve. For the fourth quarter, our income before other items came in just above our prior guidance range at $0.01 per share and revenue of $251.7 million and adjusted segment operating income of $4.8 million. As compared to the 2014 fourth quarter, our income before other items increased by $0.19 per share and adjusted segment operating income increased $4.7 million and the revenue increase of $28.5 million or 12.8%. The year-over-year growth was driven by GES which experienced a revenue increase of $31.1 million or 14.6% versus the 2014 fourth quarter. Share rotation resulted in a net increase in revenue of about $9 million, unfavorable currency translation impacted GES’ revenue by $5.8 million and the acquisitions of onPeak, and N200 contributed incremental revenue of $3.2 million versus the 2014 fourth quarter. Excluding those three factors GES’ fourth quarter revenue was up about $25 million or about 12%. Reflecting U.S. base same-show revenue growth of 13.4%, new business wins and increased sales to corporate clients. GES’ fourth quarter adjusted segment operating income increased by $4.8 million, primarily reflecting higher revenue, partially offset by higher performance-based incentives. The Travel & Recreation Group had a fourth quarter revenue decline of $2.6 million, of which approximately $1.7 million was due to the closure of the Banff Gondola for renovation work and $1.1 million was due to unfavorable exchange rate variances. The seasonal fourth quarter operating loss increased by $0.1 million on lower revenue. For the full year, our income before other items was $1.46 per share, and revenue of $1.1 billion, adjusted segment EBITDA of $90.6 million and adjusted segment operating income of $55.5 million. As compared to 2014, revenue increased 2.3%, and adjusted segment EBITDA decreased by $0.7 million or 0.8%. This slight decline in EBITDA was primarily driven by higher performance-based incentives, reflecting stronger achievement against our targets in 2015 as compared to 2014. Adjusted segment operating income declined by $5.2 million and income before other items declined by $0.29, primarily due to additional non-cash depreciation and amortization expense of $7.3 million, associated with acquisitions completed during the second half of 2014. GES’ full year revenue was $976.9 million, which was up $32.4 million versus 2014. Share rotation resulted in a net decrease in revenue of about $71 million, unfavorable currency translation impacted GES’ revenue by $26 million and the acquisitions of onPeak, Blitz and N200 contributed incremental revenue of $48.3 million versus 2014. Excluding those three factors, GES’ revenue was up about $81.1 million or 8.7%, reflecting U.S. base same-show revenue growth of 8%, new business wins and increased sales to corporate clients. GES’ full year adjusted segment EBITDA was $54.8 million, which was down $0.1 million or 0.2% from 2014 primarily reflecting increased compensation expense including higher performance-based incentives. Adjusted segment operating income decreased by $4.8 million to $27.7 million, reflecting $10.1 million of additional depreciation and amortization expense from the acquisitions completed in the last half of 2014. The Travel & Recreation Group posted full year revenue of $112.2 million, which was down $8.3 million versus 2014. Unfavorable currency translation impacted T&R revenue by $13.7 million and the acquisition of the West Glacier Properties contributed incremental revenue of $0.8 million versus 2014. Excluding those two factors, revenue was up $4.5 million or 3.9%. As Steve discussed earlier, Brewster and Alaska Denali Travel both experienced strong organic growth, while Glacier Park was negatively impacted by forest fire activity during its peak season. As a reminder, we previously quantified the revenue impact of the fires at approximately $1.9 million during the third quarter. Travel & Recreation, full-year adjusted segment EBITDA was $35.8 million and segment operating income was $27.8 million, down $0.6 million and $0.3 million respectively versus 2014. Excluding unfavorable exchange rate variances, adjusted segment EBITDA increased $4.9 million and segment operating income increased $4.3 million, primarily reflecting strong flow-through on attractions revenue growth. Now let’s cover some cash flow and balance sheet items before discussing 2016 guidance. We have consolidated cash flow from operations with $60.7 million for the 2015 full year up from $58.1 million in 2014 primarily due to favorable working capital. And capital expenditures totaled $29.8 million. At December 31, our cash and cash equivalent totaled $56.5 million and debt was $129 million with our debt-to-capital ratio of 27.8%. Now moving on to guidance. For the first quarter, we’re expecting a loss per share of $0.33 to $0.23, that’s compared to a loss of $0.12 in the 2015 quarter. We expect lower first quarter results from both business groups, which will be more than offset over the balance of the year. For GES, we expect first quarter revenue to decrease by approximately $7 million to $17 million from the 2015 quarter, with an adjusted segment operating income decrease of approximately $1.5 million to $4 million. Negative share rotation and unfavorable exchange rate variances are expected to impact GES’ revenue by about $10 million and $5 million respectively versus the 2015 quarter. Travel & Recreation Group revenues expected to decline by $1.5 million to $3.5 million with a drop in operating results of $1.2 million to $2.2 million. The Gondola closure and unfavorable exchange rate variances are expected to impact T&R’s revenue by about $1.8 million and $500,000 respectively. For the 2016 full year, we expect consolidated revenue to increase at a mid-to-high single-digit range from 2015 with an increase in adjusted segment EBITDA of approximately $20 million to $25 million. Adjusted segment operating income is expected to be in the range of $75.5 million to $80.5 million. And as Steve mentioned earlier, the midpoint, as its range reflects growth of just over 40% relative to 2015. This guidance anticipates that exchange rates will represent a more meaningful headwind than previously anticipated when we held our third quarter earnings call. Consolidated revenue is expected to be negatively impacted by about $25 million, including $17 million for GES and $8 million for the Travel & Recreation Group. The impact in consolidated segment operating income is expected to be about $3 million, with an impact on income before other items of about $0.10 per share. These impacts assume exchange rates of $0.70 for the Canadian dollar and $1.45 for the British Pound. A $0.01 change in the Canadian Dollar would affect our full year revenue by about $1.5 million to $2 million and once its change in the British Pound would affect our full year revenue by about $1 million to $1.5 million. For GES, we expect full year revenue to grow at a high single-digit rate from 2015 with growth and adjusted segment operating income of about $23 million to $26 million. GES’ 2016 full year adjusted segment operating margin is expected to approximate 5%, up from 2.8% in 2015. This strong year-over-year growth will be driven primarily by positive share rotation of about $50 million to $55 million, new business wins and continued same-show growth, partially offset by unfavorable exchange rate variances. Out outlook for share rotation revenue by quarter can be found in earnings press release. For the Travel & Recreation Group, we expect full year revenue to decline by a low single-digit rate from 2015 and this is due to a few factors. Number one, revenue from Brewster’s package tours and transportation lines of business are expected to decline by $7 million to $9 million as we streamline those operations to focus on higher return opportunity. Number two, exchange rates are expected to be unfavorable as I previously discussed and number three, we expect a modest full year revenue decline of about $1 million at the Banff Gondola, due to renovation closures early in the year, partially offset by stronger demand for the new experience during the peak third quarter. These factors will be partially offset by the acquisition of Maligne Lake Tours, which is expected to contribute revenue of about $5 million during 2016. Adjusted segment operating income is expected to decrease by about $1.3 million to $3.3 million from 2015, primarily due to unfavorable exchange rates and the gondola renovations. Adjusted segment EBITDA margins are expected to be in line with or better than the 31.9% margin realized in 2015. Our full year cash flow from operations is expected to be in the range of $80 million to $90 million and capital expenditures are expected to be about $45 million to $49 million. Additional, 2016 guidance can be found in the earnings press release and back to you, Steve.