Earnings Labs

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW)

Q2 2017 Earnings Call· Thu, Feb 2, 2017

$143.09

-0.81%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Greetings and welcome to the Intrawest Resorts Holdings’ Fiscal 2017 Second Quarter Earnings Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host Ms. Liz Derosier, Vice President of Corporate Finance. Thank you. You may begin.

Liz Derosier

Analyst

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Intrawest Resorts Holdings fiscal 2017 second quarter earnings conference call. After our prepared remarks, there will be a brief question-and-answer session. I would like to remind you that some of the comments made by management during the conference call contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary, which are discussed in our public filings filed with the SEC, including reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We caution you not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements made during this call speak only as of the date of this call and we undertake no duty to update or revise these statements. In addition, some of the comments made on this call may refer to certain measures such as adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP measures. Although adjusted EBITDA is not a substitute for net income or other GAAP measures, management believes adjusted EBITDA is useful in measuring the operating performance of our business. For a full reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to GAAP results in accordance with Regulation G, please see our press release furnished as an exhibit to our Form 8-K dated February 2, 2017. This and the presentation that accompanies today’s call are located in the Investor Relations area on our website at intrawest.com. Our call today will include remarks from Tom Marano, Chief Executive Officer; and Travis Mayer, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Intrawest’s CEO, Tom Marano.

Tom Marano

Analyst

Thank you, Liz and welcome everyone. This morning we reported results for our fiscal 2017 second quarter ended December 31, 2016, including record second quarter adjusted EBITDA. Our total segment revenue increased by $17.4 million to $120.6 million, up 16.8% from the prior year period, and adjusted EBITDA was up $14 million to $7.1 million. This growth was largely driven by our Mountain segment which benefited from a return to historical average weather conditions in the East as well as increased revenue from season pass and frequency products. In combination these drivers supported a $13.6 million increase in Mountain adjusted EBITDA. Our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter not only represents significant growth compared to the prior year period which was impacted by below average conditions in the East. It also represents a new record for our company since fiscal 2011 which was the first year for which we provided results publicly. We exceeded our previous best which was in fiscal 2014 by more than $6.7 million of adjusted EBITDA. And on a same-store basis, controlling for assets and currency, we beat our previous best by more than $7.6 million. This substantial growth is primarily the result of our continued focus on growing pre-committed revenue streams, increases in yields, our ability to manage costs and the impact of our growth capital investments. We're now in peak ski season and remain encouraged by conditions at our resorts, our record performance to date and the continued strength of our season pass and frequency product sales as well as CMH reservations. As of January 29, season pass and frequency sales are pacing more than 12% ahead of the same time last year. We are very pleased that we have maintained the sales pace since our last call in November. CMH bookings for this season…

Travis Mayer

Analyst

Thank you, Tom and good morning everyone. As Tom mentioned, total segment revenue for the second quarter was $120.6 million, up 16.8% and adjusted EBITDA was $7.1 million, up $14 million. The Mountain segment was the largest driver of this growth with skier visits up 27.1% over the prior year period as conditions at our eastern resorts were more in line with historical averages versus the unseasonably warm weather and lack of snowfall experience during the prior year period. Our second quarter results also reflect the success of our initiatives to reduce the fixed portion of our cost structure and included $2.2 million reduction in general and administrative expenses. The US to Canadian dollar exchange rate during the quarter was similar to the prior year period and did not materially impact the comparability of results. In the Mountain segment, second quarter revenue increased by 24.7% to $99 million primarily driven by the 27.1% skier visit growth. We enjoyed growth throughout all lines of business within the Mountain segment with lift revenue up 30%, retail and rental up 34.4%, lodging up 21.3%, food and beverage up 19.5% and ski school up 19.3%. Season pass and frequency product revenue for the quarter increased 23% and comprised 48% of lift revenue versus 50.7% in the prior year period. The mix shift in lift revenue relative to the prior year period is consistent with expectations as ticket visits and associated revenue returned to more normal levels with the weather improvement at our eastern resorts. Despite a return to more normal level of season pass usage at our eastern resorts with the improved conditions, which technically puts downward pressure on effective ticket price and revenue per visit, we drove an ETP increase of 2.4% and held the revenue per visit flat to the prior year…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Shaun Kelley with Bank of America.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Hi guys, it’s Eli Lenzen [ph] for Shaun today. Just to lead off, given where the season passes are and that this is the strongest early season in quite some time. Why not go ahead and raise the full year guidance?

Tom Marano

Analyst

Good morning. Thanks for the question. The quarter was definitely a strong quarter but consistent with what we expected when we provided the previous guidance and the outlook for the rest of the year, it also came in line with what we expected when we provided the previous guidance. So at this point there's no reason to adjust that.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

Also, it sounds like snow was particularly solid around key peak holiday period. But what are your thoughts about snowfall in January so far outside of the peak period? Is it pretty consistently good or has it fallen behind than Christmas, New Year's, especially in northeastern Canada?

Tom Marano

Analyst

To be quite honest, we've had a very good January snow wise and you're right the snow did come at key times around the holidays. But we've got so much of it that we've got a really solid base. In fact, total snowfall is actually well ahead of last year and in some cases well ahead of 2015.

Unidentified Analyst

Analyst

And then just one last question. I know you mentioned the building the CMH lodge, you said it could potentially start building in 2018. What would be the timeline on the completion and then what impact do you think we could see on that segment’s profitability?

Tom Marano

Analyst

Because of the tight construction window and the type of construction we're looking at, you’d really try and get it done within one season. That's also part of feasibility, there's a variety of ways you could construct this. So it's not something that would span over many years, it would be something that would be very quick.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Brooks with Macquarie.

Matthew Brooks

Analyst · Macquarie.

Good morning guys. I thought the first question would be this one, but can you comment on the media reports that you started the sale process?

Tom Marano

Analyst · Macquarie.

Hey Matt, we really don’t comment on market speculation or rumors. So, sorry but we can’t do that.

Matthew Brooks

Analyst · Macquarie.

Okay. Can I ask some follow-ups? Visits to your Colorado resorts, can you say anything about how they are this season compared to last year? They had a bit of a slower start to the season over there.

Travis Mayer

Analyst · Macquarie.

Sure. I mean for the quarter we had -- most of the growth certainly came from the East Coast relative to the prior year period just by virtue of them, it being a good start to season this year and last year being pretty tough with the challenging conditions. We also had growth in Colorado but that growth was much smaller relative to the east coast increase. Consistent with a lot of other folks out here, the month of December started a little bit lean. But then we got really good conditions before the key Christmas holiday and things actually went pretty well.

Tom Marano

Analyst · Macquarie.

And I think also the kids ski free promotion really helped, definitely you saw our pass sales were up so much.

Matthew Brooks

Analyst · Macquarie.

And like you said January has been really good, like some places getting a ton of snow, are you near a point where you might be able to extend the season for some years, because I think I've seen that Keystone, for example, has already extended maybe a week or two?

Tom Marano

Analyst · Macquarie.

I think it’s a little too early to do that, we wouldn’t make that kind of decision for another couple of months.

Matthew Brooks

Analyst · Macquarie.

And last one for me. Can you give any color on Mammoth and how that's going this year and anything you can say about how that asset is going generally?

Tom Marano

Analyst · Macquarie.

I really can't comment on Mammoth, we’re a minority equity holder and that just wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on them. I know the West Coast is getting tons of snow there.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Chris Woronka with Deutsche Bank.

Chris Woronka

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

Hey good morning guys. Want to ask you on the ancillary spend, and I know that those numbers get kind of wacky when you have big changes in skier visits and you’re still able to hold it flat on a reported basis. But is there any way to kind of figure out? I assume you had some pretty good ancillary growth if you adjust kind of maybe the season passes out? Is there any way to kind of think about that?

Tom Marano

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

I don't know if there is really -- I don't completely understand the question. But I think there isn’t a really clean way to adjust the season’s passes out per se but we did have strong ancillary growth across all lines of business with ski schools up around 20, food and beverages up around 20%, lodging up around 20% and then retail and rental up almost 35% -- because Blue and Snowshoe have huge rental operations and they were largely closed last December and those rental operations were back online which kind of drove outsized growth within that line of business. That sounds -- yes, big visit growth and then also large growth in the ancillary revenues as well.

Chris Woronka

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

And then I know it's still kind of early days on what you're doing with the customer, some of the data collection but based on kind of what you've seen I guess the season so far versus last season, is there any kind of discernible trend in terms of you getting more of that cross visitor that you've been working hard on getting?

Tom Marano

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

I think what's really helping us is how to market better to them even within resorts. So as far as their visitation is concerned, we now have enough information that we can encourage them with an offer to come up for another trip. We find if they come four or more times their probability of renewing is greater for next season. Whereas if they come up say three times the chances of them getting another pass next year is quite a bit lower. I also think that the convenience we're providing is pretty remarkable. Even before we were actively announcing the ability to register and reload, people were finding the application themselves and were registering reloading, and we're seeing some very good numbers there.

Chris Woronka

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

Very good and then you guys had some pretty solid margin performance this quarter. Are there any -- do you see any pressures in terms of labor availability or anything like that -- something we’ve been seeing a little bit more of in the broader hospitality space?

Tom Marano

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

That's actually a really good question. We were very concerned about that going into the season. But we actually have not seen anything dramatic at any of our locations. We do have to bring in farm workers for some of our F&B operations -- but we’d had no problem with the programs. And then as far as domestic US employees, again we're not really feeling any dramatic tension points but we were concerned about it and it hasn’t played out.

Chris Woronka

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

Okay, great. Just finally for me, I guess for Travis, the guidance is unchanged from your initial guidance but can we assume that the segment guidance is also the same, are there any puts and takes in there?

Travis Mayer

Analyst · Deutsche Bank.

I don’t think any meaningful. End of Q&A

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] At this time there seems to be no further questions. I will turn it back to you CEO, Mr Tom Marano for closing remarks.

Tom Marano

Analyst

Guys, thank you very much. Again we're really pleased with these results and we’re constructive on the rest of the season. But I want to thank you for your time and let's keep our heads think and smile [ph].

Operator

Operator

This concludes today’s conference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines.