Article published November 03, 2009
Cedar Fair hit with attendance, patron spending drop; to suspend its dividend
Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 roller coaster
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BLADE STAFF
SANDUSKY — Cedar Fair LP, which owns Cedar Point and 10 other amusement parks and six water parks nationwide, Tuesday reported it likely will suspend its dividend next year after releasing an earnings report that showed lower attendance and smaller spending per-patron at its parks.
The company said its third quarter profit was $107.6 million, or $1.92 a partnership unit, up 18 percent over the same quarter a year ago when it had a profit of $91.5 million, or $1.65 a unit.
The Sandusky company said the latest quarter included a total of 64 additional operating days at its parks nationwide compared to a year ago. Still, its third-quarter revenues fell 4 percent to $520 million.
Its preliminary figures show through 10 months this year that attendance at its properties dropped 6 percent to 20.6 million visitors and average in-park per-patron spending was down 1 percent to $39.65. Out-of-park revenues decrease $8 million to $94.5 million because of declines in occupancy in its hotels.
Dick Kinzel, chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said in a statement that it expects to suspend its cash distributions, or dividends, beginning in 2010. Available cash flow will be used instead to pay off some debt.
Cedar Fair previously announced a cash distribution of 25 cents unit to be paid on Nov. 16.
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