SANDUSKY — Bolstered by higher guest spending both within and outside its 11 amusement parks and three water parks, Cedar Fair LP said Tuesday that its revenues totaled a record $664 million in the third quarter, a 2 percent increase from the same period last year.
The company, based in Sandusky at its flagship Cedar Point park, said its quarterly profits were $213.3 million, or $3.76 a share, up 11.5 percent from the third quarter of 2017 when profits were $191.3 million, or $3.38 a share. Cedar Fair’s earnings easily beat the estimate of $3.21 a share by a consensus of seven Wall Street analysts, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), a metric that Cedar Fair believes best captures park-level operating profitability, was $338.1 million, a 1 percent increase from $333.6 million a year ago.
Park-goers spent an average of $49.47 inside the parks in the third quarter, a 2 percent increase from a year ago. Out-of-park revenues including resort bookings totaled $70.1 million, up 8 percent from a year ago. Attendance in the quarter was 12.4 million guest visits, down 0.5 percent.
Richard Zimmerman, Cedar Fair president and CEO, said, “I am proud of the entire Cedar Fair team and what we have accomplished so far this year — producing strong current results while focusing on growing the business and creating value for our guests and [shareholders] over the long term.”
Based on the quarterly results, the company reaffirmed on Tuesday its earlier financial guidance that its full-year revenues will total between $1.32 billion and $1.34 billion, and adjusted EBITDA will be between $460 million and $470 million.
Cedar Fair also declared a third-quarter cash dividend of 92.5 cents per share, payable Dec. 17 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 4.
On the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, shares of Cedar Fair gained 24 cents to close at $51.57.
First Published October 30, 2018, 5:31 p.m.
