U.S. stocks: Higher park attendance pushed up Cedar Fair’s revenue in 2010

Cedar Fair L.P., symbol FUN on New York, owns and operates 11 amusement parks including Knott’s Berry Farm in California and Canada’s Wonderland, six outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. For 2010, the U.S. stock’s revenue jumped 6.7%, to $977.6 million from $916.1 million in 2009. Park attendance rose 7.8%, and revenue from the company’s hotels rose 6.1%. Per-guest spending slipped less than 1% despite higher sales of season passes, which typically decrease the amount spent per visit. Even so, the partnership lost $31.6 million, or $0.57 a unit, in 2010, compared to earnings of $35.4 million, or $0.63 a unit, in 2009. One-time items were the main reason for the loss: The company paid a $35.3-million charge on the early retirement of debt, wrote off $62.8 million for aging amusement park rides, and incurred $10.4 million in costs after it cancelled a friendly takeover from a private investment firm. Also, in 2009 the company made a $23.1 million profit from a one-time sale of land, which pushed earnings higher that year. In 2010, the U.S. stock’s long term debt fell by 2.9%, to $1.58 billion from $1.63 billion. That’s still 1.5 times its $1.1 billion market cap. In 2011, the company will spend $75 million on new attractions for its parks. To cut debt, Cedar Fair suspended its quarterly distributions of $0.25 per unit in the fourth quarter of 2009. However, the partnership resumed paying quarterly dividends again in December 2010. The new quarterly rate of $0.08 a unit yields of 1.6% on an annual basis. You can get our in-depth analysis, including our updated buy/sell/hold advice, on Cedar Fair and other U.S. stocks when you subscribe to Wall Street Stock Forecaster. What’s more, you can get one month free when you subscribe today. Click here to learn how.

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Jim Bates

Jim is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for The Successful Investor and Wall Street Stock Forecaster and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Jim has held the Chartered Financial Analyst designation since 1992 and spent more than a decade at the Financial Post DataGroup before joining TSI Network. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.

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