Time For You to Sell

Article Excerpt

CEDAR FAIR, L.P. $27.90 (New York symbol FUN; SI Rating: Average) now owns twelve amusement parks, five outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and six hotels. This includes the five Paramount amusement parks purchased last year for $1.24 billion. The new parks pushed Cedar Fair’s revenues in the three months ended June 24, 2007 up 88.4%, to $274 million from $145.4 million. But earnings per unit fell 50%, to $0.10 from $0.20 due to higher operating costs and interest on the debt taken on in the Paramount purchase. Cedar Fair’s long-term debt is now $1.9 billion, up from $561.6 million a year ago. Interest expense jumped to $36.2 million in the latest quarter, from $8 million a year earlier. The company plans to use cash flow from its new parks to pay down debt. But virtually all of Cedar Fair’s revenues are realized during a 130-day period in the summer, so it’s vulnerable to a sustained stretch of bad weather. As well,…