Today's conference call notes:
* Focus of company is on its three primary constituencies, shareholders, guests and employees.
* A very large portion of revenue is dedicated to safety and maintenance.
* Attendance in Q3 was flat. There are three primary reasons for that: reduced discounts and comp tickets, limited new product in 2010 due to reduced capex and the solid year before Q3 performance.
* Profitable revenue growth is primary focus (not purely attendance).
* We are now a regional theme park company, not a global entertainment company. The theme park business is a stable business, and we are part of that.
* Because of outside interests we don't own at SFOG, SFOT and others, modified EBITDA is best to use when comparing us to others in the industry (read FUN, who was referred to in a veiled fashion several times during the call)
* We now have focused pricing discipline (apparently SIX speak for Mr. Kinzel's vaunted "pricing integrity) and increasing in park sales.
* Our focus is on containing/reducing costs while sustaining the guest experience.
* In 2011 Easter will fall in Q2 instead of Q1, which happens every few years. Remember this when comparing year over year performance.
* In a veiled reference/comparison to FUN, it was noted that 175 million people live within 100 miles of a Six Flag park, while only 115 million live within 100 miles of a park owned by "our largest competitor," thus giving SIX substantial opportunity for growth compared to that company. It was also noted that there is a SIX park in 9 out of 10 of the largest metropolitan areas, which cannot be said for that competitor.
* In 2011, SIX will add more rides and attractions in a single season than in any year in the past decade. Capex was limited in 2010 due to several factors, including the financial restructuring.
* They will refine the pricing strategy to generate appropriate returns--reducing high discounts.
* Ads will be ride and park focused. Mr. Six will play a less prominent role.
* There are opportunities for cost reduction that will be addressed in the future, including excess land and high debt costs.
* Huge increases in attendance are not expected nor necessary for the business plan.
* There have been substantial reductions in debt so far and they are expected to continue. When pushed about the large amount of cash on hand, it was pointed out that this may be needed during the off season and will be addressed.
* It was pointed out the largest competitor had a huge increase in October attendance reported during the conference call yesterday, but the answer was "We are not commenting on October or Q4." Interesting.
* In a bit of a stunner, they divided up the per cap when requested. Of the $38.90, $22.13 is ticket, $16.77 is in park spending.
* The SFOT and SFOG partners can be bought out in 2027 and 2028 (not necessarily respectively). They would not comment on any plans to do so before that time or then.
* The primary focus is to the "best managed regional theme park company in the world."
* Capex will be detailed tomorrow in the investor's meeting. The slides will be available shortly beforehand.
In short, this call was far more financially driven and far less fun than the Shapiro/Snyder ones.
Investor meeting tomorrow at 9....see you then!
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