Carmike Cinemas Inc fka CKEC

[Enterprising Investor]

Carmike Cinemas Reports 20% Rise in Second Quarter Operating Revenue to a Record $219.1 Million (7/27/15)

43% Increase in Q2 Operating Income and 24% Growth in Adjusted EBITDA

COLUMBUS, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC):

“Carmike’s strong second quarter operating revenue growth reflects the ongoing success of our theatre-level initiatives and the progress we are achieving around our value-building theatre acquisition and organic growth strategies. Buoyed by an attendance increase of nearly 14%, Carmike’s strong operating and financial momentum has continued in 2015 as we achieved record performance across several key financial metrics, including a 20% rise in operating revenues that marked an all-time quarterly record, as well as a 43% rise in operating income, and increases in adjusted EBITDA and theatre level cash flow of over 24% and 25%, respectively,” stated David Passman, Carmike Cinemas’ President and Chief Executive Officer.

“In the second quarter, we generated record-level concessions and other spending per patron, marking 22 consecutive reporting periods of year-over-year concessions and other per patron spending growth while maintaining healthy margins. Carmike’s 24% increase in total concessions and other revenues and 9% rise in concessions and other spending per patron again highlight our team’s long-term successful food and beverage initiatives. We are confident the growth in this high-margin revenue stream will play a key role in our overall top-line growth as we continue to test new food and beverage concepts and introduce our concessions innovations and in-theatre dining services in additional markets across our circuit.

“Second quarter total admissions revenue grew 17% while admissions revenue per screen was substantially in-line with the industry. Over the past several years, Carmike’s admissions revenue growth per screen has consistently outperformed the overall industry, including by some 600 basis points in the comparable 2014 period, in large part due to the customer-centric focus and accomplishments of our theatre-level operating teams.

“Looking ahead, we intend to continue our role as an industry consolidator, with our capital allocation strategy focused on expanding our theatre circuit in complementary markets through opportunistic theatre acquisitions and new build locations. We are committed to completing transactions that add high-quality assets to our footprint and generate attractive levels of theatre level cash flow, which we believe will enhance shareholder value and support our platform for sustainable growth. We remain optimistic regarding potential opportunities to acquire additional theatres and with a strong balance sheet that includes over $132 million in cash and a recently refinanced capital structure, our board, management team and I remain confident in the company’s prospects to further strategically expand the business.

“We are pleased with our record operating performance for the first half of 2015, our ability to execute against our theatre-level initiatives and the continued success of the box office environment and remain optimistic that the positive operating environment will continue for the remainder of 2015 and beyond,” concluded Mr. Passman.

Carmike Cinemas’ Chief Financial Officer Richard B. Hare stated, “Second quarter operating revenue growth of 19.7% reflects a 17.3% increase in admissions revenue and a 23.9% rise in concessions and other revenue. Top-line growth is attributable to Carmike’s expanded theatre circuit, a favorable box office environment versus the prior year, a 3.1% increase in average ticket prices, and a 8.9% rise in concessions/other spending per patron. Overall, guests spent a record-level of $12.37 per visit on average in the second quarter, which represents a 5.3% increase in combined per patron spending compared to the prior year.

“Carmike’s Q2 2015 film exhibition costs as a percentage of admissions revenues were 58.7%, versus 56.0% in Q2 2014, reflecting a higher concentration of strong performing titles, while concession costs as a percentage of concessions and other revenue declined by 20 basis points to 11.6%.

“The increases in our three theatre-level expense categories primarily reflect the 8.1% year-over-year rise in Carmike’s average screen count related to recent acquisitions and new theatre openings. Salaries and benefits rose $2.6 million to $26.1 million, theatre occupancy costs increased $2.9 million to $23.9 million, and other theatre operating costs were $33.1 million, compared to $28.5 million in the second quarter of 2014. Importantly, these combined theatre-level expense categories as a percentage of total operating revenues decreased by 200 basis points versus the prior year period.

“General and administrative expenses were $8.2 million for Q2 2015, including $1.2 million of non-cash share-based compensation expense and $0.8 million of merger and acquisition related costs. Quarterly interest expense decreased $0.4 million to $12.6 million in Q2 2015, due primarily to lower capital lease and financing obligation balances.

“On June 17, Carmike issued $230 million aggregate principal amount of 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2023. Net proceeds from this offering were used to repay our $210 million 7.375% Senior Secured Notes due 2019. Carmike recorded non-recurring loss on extinguishment of debt charges of $17.6 million in the second quarter of 2015 for the write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs, including a prepayment penalty of $11.6 million related to the termination of its existing senior secured notes. The refinancing is expected to yield $1.7 million of annual interest expense savings through 2023.

“Carmike simultaneously entered into a new $50 million revolving credit facility that replaces the prior $25 million revolver that was scheduled to mature in April 2016 and was undrawn at closing. By leveraging the current favorable credit environment, our recent refinancing activity expands our total debt capacity while locking in attractive capital costs for our extended maturities.

“Adjusted EBITDA increased 24.4% to $40.8 million and theatre level cash flow rose 25.1% to $47.0 million due to a combination of Carmike’s strong top-line growth, higher attendance levels, results-focused operating disciplines, and expanded scale. Reflecting cash of $132.8 million at June 30, 2015 and our recent refinancing, we ended the quarter with $326.6 million of net debt, compared with $347.5 million at December 31, 2014. Our capital allocation strategy continues to focus on deploying cash to expand our theatre circuit through accretive acquisitions and new build locations,” concluded Mr. Hare.

Supplemental Financial Measures

Theatre level cash flow, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, total debt and net debt are supplemental non-GAAP financial measures used by Carmike to evaluate its operating performance. Carmike defines theatre level cash flow as adjusted EBITDA, as defined below, plus general and administrative expenses. Carmike believes that theatre level cash flow is an important supplemental measure of operating performance for a motion picture exhibitor’s operations because it provides a measure of the core operations, rather than factoring in items such as general and administrative expenses and depreciation and amortization, among others. In addition, Carmike believes that theatre level cash flow, as defined, is a widely accepted measure of comparative operating performance in the motion picture exhibition industry. Adjusted net income is defined as net (loss) income plus impairment of long-lived assets, loss on extinguishment of debt, merger and acquisition-related expenses, share-based compensation expense and (gain) loss on sale of property and equipment, net of tax. Carmike believes adjusted net income is an important supplemental measure of operating performance for a motion picture exhibitor because it provides a measure of core operations. Total debt is defined as the sum of current maturities of capital leases and long-term financing obligations, long-term debt and capital leases and long-term financing obligations (less current maturities). Net debt is defined as total debt less cash and cash equivalents. EBITDA is defined as net (loss) income plus income tax (benefit) expense, interest expense and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA plus income (loss) from unconsolidated affiliates, loss from discontinued operations, loss on extinguishment of debt, merger and acquisition-related expenses, share-based compensation expense, (gain) loss on sale of property and equipment, and impairment of long-lived assets. Carmike believes that EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are important supplemental measures of operating performance for a motion picture exhibitor’s operations because they provide measures of core operations.

About Carmike Cinemas

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. is a U.S. leader in digital cinema, 3-D cinema deployments and alternative programming and is one of the nation's largest motion picture exhibitors. Carmike has 270 theatres with 2,882 screens in 41 states. The circuit includes 48 premium large format (PLF) auditoriums featuring state-of-the-art technology and luxurious seating, including 30 "BigDs," 16 IMAX auditoriums and two MuviXL screens. As "America's Hometown Theatre Chain" Carmike's primary focus is mid-sized communities. Visit www.carmike.com for exact show-times and to purchase tickets.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150727006182/en/Carmike-Cinemas-Reports-20-Rise-Quarter-Operating#.VbaYBLTbKUk