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PR:American Skiing Company Announces Fiscal 1999 Third Quarter Results .


5/27/99

NEWRY, Maine, May 27 -- American Skiing Company (NYSE: SKI) today announced financial results for the three months and nine months ended April 25, 1999. Net income available to common shareholders was $21.2 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 1999, compared with $31.7 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 1998.

Total revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 were $164.6 million compared with $185.2 million for the corresponding period in fiscal 1998. Resort revenue increased 7.0 percent for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 to $154.3 million, compared with $144.3 million for the corresponding period in fiscal 1998. Real estate revenue was $10.3 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 versus $40.9 million for the corresponding period in fiscal 1998, when American Skiing Company recognized $28.1 million in revenue related to the openings of the Killington and Mount Snow Grand Summit hotels.

Total earnings from operations before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") were $67.0 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 compared with EBITDA of $79.2 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1998. Resort EBITDA for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 was $65.2 million versus $66.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1998, and real estate EBITDA was $1.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 versus $12.5 million for the corresponding period in fiscal 1998.

Pro forma results for the nine months ended April 26, 1998 assume American Skiing Company's initial public offering and the acquisition of Steamboat and Heavenly resorts occurred at the beginning of the period presented, rather than the actual initial public offering date of November 6, 1997 and acquisition date of November 12, 1997.

For the nine-month period ended April 25, 1999, the net loss available to common shareholders was $9.8 million, or a loss of $0.32 per diluted share compared with pro forma net income of $13.6 million, or $0.45 per diluted share for the corresponding period of fiscal 1998, excluding a one-time stock compensation charge, net of income tax benefit, and extraordinary items.

Total revenues for the nine months ended April 25, 1999 were $298.9 million versus total revenue of $317.4 million on a pro forma basis for the corresponding period in fiscal 1998. Resort revenue rose 3.8 percent to $277.8 million for the nine-month period ended April 25, 1999, compared with pro forma resort revenue of $267.8 million for the nine-month period of the previous fiscal year. Real estate revenue was $21.1 million for the nine-month period ended April 25, 1999, compared with $49.6 million in the corresponding period of fiscal 1998, when American Skiing Company recognized $42.4 million in revenue related to the openings of the Killington, Sunday River and Mount Snow Grand Summit hotels.

Total EBITDA for the nine-month period ended April 25, 1999 was $63.3 million versus $90.5 million on a pro forma basis in the corresponding period of fiscal 1998. Resort EBITDA for the nine-month period ended April 25, 1999 was $62.7 million compared to $75.6 million on a pro forma basis for the corresponding period in fiscal 1998. Real estate EBITDA for the nine-month period ended April 25, 1999 was $0.6 million versus $14.9 million for the comparable period in fiscal 1998. Total skier visits through May 23, 1999 were 5,084,487 visits versus 5,319,320 visits for the previous year.

"Our results for the third quarter of fiscal 1999 reflect our continued efforts to provide visitors with a world-class skiing experience while concurrently increasing the number of revenue-generating activities at our resorts," said Mark J. Miller, chief financial officer. "Driven by higher lift ticket yields and healthy increases in our ancillary business segments, particularly lodging and skier development, we achieved higher resort revenues this quarter than the third quarter of fiscal 1998, despite an overall lower number of skier visits. In doing so, we overcame many of the challenges presented by this year's unseasonably warm winter season, which resulted in a lack of industry-wide momentum entering the third quarter.

"Additionally, in late April, we retained two leading investment banks to evaluate the financial alternatives that will best allow us to reduce our leverage, pursue our growth strategy and recognize greater shareholder value," concluded Miller.

"Our commitment to new skiers through our Learn to Ski Discovery Centers was received with overwhelming enthusiasm during the third quarter," said Leslie B. Otten, chairman and chief executive officer. "We are confident that this expansion in our skier development business will provide sustained growth as we lead the industry in attracting and retaining new participants to on-snow sports.

"Our real estate business also made significant strides during the third quarter. With skier visits returning to more normal levels during the quarter, we saw a corresponding increase in real estate sales in the east, and pre-sales at Steamboat and the Canyons returned to healthy levels," Otten continued.

"Looking ahead, we remain confident about the prospects for our business, both in real estate and resorts. While the 1998/1999 ski season did not meet our initial expectations due to protracted poor weather conditions, we are taking the steps necessary to position American Skiing Company for future success and sustained growth," Otten concluded.

Headquartered in Newry, Maine, American Skiing Company is the largest operator of alpine ski and snowboard resorts in the United States. Its resorts include Steamboat in Colorado; Killington, Mount Snow and Sugarbush in Vermont; Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine; Attitash Bear Peak in New Hampshire; The Canyons in Utah; and Heavenly in California/Nevada.

Statements in this press release, other than statements of historical information, are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general business and economic conditions; competitive factors in the ski and resort industry; and the weather. Investors are also directed to other risks discussed in documents periodically filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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.		
American Skiing Company and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Financial Statements
(in thousands of dollars except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
Actual
Three Months Ended
Net revenues:                  April 25,             April 26,
1999                 1998(B)
Resort                      $  154,317             $  144,245
Real estate                     10,324                 40,914
Total net revenues             164,641                185,159
Operating expenses:
Resort                         74,573                  66,094
Real estate                     8,554                  28,451
Marketing, general
and administrative            14,519                  11,429
Stock compensation
charge                            --                      --
Depreciation and
amortization                  19,731                  17,960
Total operating
expenses                     117,377                 123,934
Income from operations         47,264                  61,225
Interest expense               10,144                   7,486
Income (loss) before
provision for
(benefit from)
income taxes and
minority interest in
loss of subsidiary            37,120                  53,739
Provision for
(benefit from)
income taxes                  14,787                  20,958
Minority interest
in loss of subsidiary             --                      --
Income (loss) before
extraordinary items           22,333                  32,781
Extraordinary loss,
net of income
tax benefit                       --                      --
Income (loss) before
preferred stock dividends     22,333                  32,781
Accretion of discount
and dividends
accrued on mandatorily
redeemable preferred stock     1,096                   1,091
Net income (loss)
available to
common shareholders        $  21,237               $  31,690
Basic earnings (loss)
per share:
Income (loss) before
extraordinary items            $0.70                 $  1.05
Extraordinary loss                 --                      --
Net income (loss) available
to common shareholders         $0.70                 $  1.05
Weighted average shares
outstanding - basic           30,287                  30,266
Diluted earnings (loss)
per share:
Income (loss) before
extraordinary items            $0.69                   $1.03
Extraordinary loss                 --                      --
Net income (loss) available
to common shareholders         $0.69                   $1.03
Weighted average shares
outstanding - diluted         30,630                  30,840
Other Data
Resort EBITDA               $  65,225               $  66,722
Real estate EBITDA              1,770                  12,463
Total EBITDA                $  66,995               $  79,185
Actual                   Pro Forma
Nine Months Ended       Nine Months Ended
April 25,    April 26,          April 26,
Net revenues:                    1999       1998(A)(B)           1998
Resort                      $  277,833    $  264,141        $  267,747
Real estate                     21,109        49,614            49,614
Total net revenues             298,942       313,755           317,361
Operating expenses:
Resort                         171,897       147,313           155,898
Real estate                     20,459        34,706            34,706
Marketing, general
and administrative             43,267        31,281            36,259
Stock compensation charge          --         14,254            14,254
Depreciation and amortization   41,450        34,475            36,073
Total operating expenses       277,073       262,029           277,190
Income from operations          21,869        51,726            40,171
Interest expense                29,213        25,028            25,848
Income (loss) before
provision for
(benefit from) income
taxes and minority
interest in loss
of subsidiary                  (7,344)       26,698            14,323
Provision for (benefit from)
income taxes                     (768)       10,413             5,587
Minority interest in
loss of subsidiary                 --          (456)             (456)
Income (loss) before
extraordinary items            (6,576)       16,741             9,192
Extraordinary loss,
net of income
tax benefit                        --         5,081             5,081
Income (loss)
before preferred
stock dividends                (6,576)       11,660             4,111
Accretion of discount
and dividends accrued
on mandatorily redeemable
preferred stock                 3,234         4,262             4,262
Net income (loss)
available to
common shareholders         $  (9,810)     $  7,398           $  (151)
Basic earnings (loss)
per share:
Income (loss)
before extraordinary
items                          ($0.32)        $0.51             $0.16
Extraordinary loss                  --         (0.21)            (0.17)
Net income (loss)
available to
common shareholders            ($0.32)        $0.30            ($0.01)
Weighted average
shares outstanding - basic     30,286        24,313            29,824
Diluted earnings
(loss) per share:
Income (loss) before
extraordinary items            ($0.32)        $0.51             $0.16
Extraordinary loss                  --         (0.21)            (0.17)
Net income (loss)
available to
common shareholders
Weighted average                ($0.32)        $0.30            ($0.01)
shares outstanding - diluted   30,286        24,656            30,378
Other Data
Resort EBITDA                $  62,669     $  85,547         $  75,590
Real estate EBITDA                 650        14,908            14,908
Total EBITDA                 $  63,319     $ 100,455         $  90,498
(A)  Actual results include income from operations of Steamboat and
Heavenly resorts from their acquisition date of November 12, 1997.
(B)  Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with
the current period presentation.

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