Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Great Wolf Resorts Reports Fourth Quarter 2007 Results

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS Exceed Company’s Earnings Guidance and Consensus Analyst Estimates

MADISON, WI--February 20, 2008—Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: WOLF), North America’s leading family of indoor waterpark resorts, today reported results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2007.
Highlights

· Achieved Adjusted EBITDA of $11.5 million and Adjusted net loss per share of $(0.05) for the 2007 fourth quarter, resulting in full year 2007 amounts of $51.1 million of Adjusted EBITDA and $0.03 of Adjusted EPS, exceeding both consensus analyst estimates and the top end of the company’s earnings guidance for the quarter and the full year.


· Generated seventh consecutive quarter of same store RevPAR improvement, with Great Wolf Lodge® brand same store Total RevPAR up 6.6 percent compared to the same period last year, and have seen an increase in same store rooms sold / booked in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the first quarter of 2007.

· Opened the 402-suite Great Wolf Lodge resort in Grapevine, Texas in December, featuring the state’s largest indoor waterpark. Also broke ground on construction of a 203-suite and 20,000 square-foot meeting space expansion to the newly-opened resort. Achieved 25,000 sold and future booked rooms on the new resort to date.

· Broke ground on construction of a 402-suite Great Wolf Lodge resort in Concord, N.C. in October 2007.

· Completed a significant expansion of the Traverse City, Mich., Great Wolf Lodge in the 2007 fourth quarter, adding 9,000 square feet of meeting space.

· Capitalized on increased emphasis on group sales at resorts, resulting in a 35 percent year-over-year increase in same store total number of group rooms sold / booked through February 18, 2008.

The company reported a 2007 fourth quarter net loss of $(7.7) million, or $(0.25) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(49.0) million, or $(1.61) per diluted share in last year’s fourth quarter. Fourth quarter 2006 operating results included the impact of a pre-tax, $51.0 million goodwill impairment charge and the related effect on income taxes.

Fourth Quarter Operating Results


“Our portfolio of resorts continued to perform well, providing operating results that exceeded both the top end of our earnings guidance and consensus analyst estimates for the fourth quarter,” said John Emery, chief executive officer. “We continued our seven-quarter string of strong year-over-year same store revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth. We believe this is due in large part to the impact of our targeted marketing and our continued focus on great guest service, a feature at the core of our business.

"Our fourth quarter is heavily dependent upon holiday activities, and our business appears to have held up better than certain other companies which are dependent on discretionary consumer spending. We believe this clearly demonstrates the advantage of our business model: providing a high-quality, drive-to, destination family resort experience.”

The company reported fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $11.5 million and Adjusted EPS of $(0.05), resulting in full year 2007 amounts of $51.1 million of Adjusted EBITDA and $0.03 of Adjusted EPS. The company’s 2007 fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA increased 40 percent over the 2006 period.


For complete financials, please click on www.greatwolf.com.

Contact:
Alex Lombardo
Investors
(703) 573-9317

Jennifer Beranek
Media
(608) 661-4754
*******************************************************************************

No comments: