Reports Solid Liquidity Position and
Improving Business Conditions
Amends Credit Agreement Financial Covenants
for Additional Flexibility
Viad Corp (NYSE:VVI), a leading global provider of extraordinary
experiences, including hospitality and leisure activities,
experiential marketing, and live events, today announced that it
has reached an agreement to acquire an attraction experience that
will expand Pursuit’s Glacier Park Collection. Closing is
anticipated in April and will be funded with Viad’s existing
liquidity. Additionally, the company announced an amendment to its
2021 Credit Facility that revises the financial covenants
associated with its revolving credit facility through the first
quarter of 2023.
Glacier Park Collection Acquisition
We have entered into an agreement to acquire the Glacier Raft
Company and related lodging, land, and other assets. Glacier Raft
Company provides guided river rafting trips operating in the heart
of Pursuit’s West Glacier, Montana operations. In addition to its
top-rated rafting adventures, Glacier Raft Company also owns 13 log
cabins, a lodge, and a wedding venue located on 50 acres with views
into Glacier National Park. Closing, which is subject to customary
regulatory approvals, is expected to occur in April.
David Barry, president of Pursuit, commented, “We are excited to
add a high-quality attraction experience to our growing Glacier
Park Collection, which enjoyed record levels of visitation in 2021.
We have operated alongside the Glacier Raft Company for many years
and have a tremendous amount of respect for the business, the
leadership team and the quality of experience they deliver to their
guests. It will be a natural, high-margin complement to our
existing lodging, food and beverage and retail operations in the
thriving West Glacier entrance to Glacier National Park.”
Liquidity and Business Update
Steve Moster, president and chief executive officer of Viad,
said, “We are fortunate to be in a strong liquidity position that
affords us the ability to continue investing in high-return growth
opportunities like Glacier Raft Company and the new Forest Park
Hotel in Jasper, which should both contribute positive EBITDA in
2022, as well as the longer-term build projects to expand our
FlyOver attraction platform to new locations at the base of
Toronto’s CN Tower and the most recently announced location at
Chicago’s Navy Pier.”
As of March 22, 2022, our liquidity position was approximately
$158 million, as compared to approximately $149 million at December
31, 2021. We expect to fund the Glacier Raft Company acquisition
using cash on hand and available revolver capacity. Pro forma for
the acquisition, our liquidity as of March 22, 2022 would have been
approximately $132 million.
Moster continued, “As a result of strong cash flow management
and improving business conditions, our liquidity is tracking ahead
of our earlier expectations. Pursuit’s room booking pace for 2022
remains ahead of the same time in 2019 and GES is seeing an
acceleration of event activity. With travel and other restrictions
lifting, we have much reason to be optimistic that both of our
businesses are poised for strong year-over-year EBITDA growth over
the balance of 2022.”
Credit Agreement Amendment
We also amended our 2021 Credit Agreement to modify the
financial covenants related to our revolving credit facility to
provide additional flexibility through the first quarter of 2023.
Our maximum leverage ratio has been increased to 5.25x for the
trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2022, declining to 4.75x
at December 31, 2022, 4.5x at March 31, 2023, and 4.0x
thereafter.
Moster said, “GES’ revenue from in person event activity was
temporarily disrupted during late 2021 and early 2022 as we
navigated the effects of the Delta and Omicron variants. This
amendment provides additional flexibility to us in what has been a
very dynamic operating environment.”
Moster concluded, “We will continue to be strong stewards of our
capital with an acute focus on maximizing EBITDA and cash flow from
operations, while investing prudently in high-margin growth
opportunities.”
About Viad
Viad (NYSE: VVI) is a leading global provider of extraordinary
experiences, including hospitality and leisure activities,
experiential marketing, and live events through two businesses:
Pursuit and GES. Pursuit is a collection of inspiring and
unforgettable travel experiences in Alaska, Montana, the Canadian
Rockies, Vancouver, Reykjavik, and Las Vegas, as well as new
experiences planned in Chicago and Toronto. Pursuit’s collection
includes attractions, lodges and hotels, and sightseeing tours that
connect guests with iconic places. GES is a global, full-service
live events company offering a comprehensive range of services to
the world's leading brands and event organizers. Our business
strategy focuses on delivering extraordinary experiences for our
teams, clients and guests, and significant and sustainable growth
and above-market returns for our shareholders. Viad is an S&P
SmallCap 600 company. For more information, visit www.viad.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains a number of forward-looking
statements. Words, and variations of words, such as “will,” “may,”
“expect,” “would,” “could,” “might,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,”
“estimate,” “anticipate,” “deliver,” “seek,” “aim,” “potential,”
“target,” “outlook,” and similar expressions are intended to
identify our forward-looking statements. Similarly, statements that
describe our business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans,
intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements are not historical facts and are subject
to a host of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our
control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in our forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the following:
- the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial condition,
liquidity, and cash flow;
- our ability to anticipate and adjust for the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on our businesses;
- general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a
worsening of global economic conditions;
- travel industry disruptions;
- seasonality of our businesses;
- unanticipated delays and cost overruns of our capital projects,
and our ability to achieve established financial and strategic
goals for such projects;
- our exposure to labor shortages, turnover, and labor cost
increases;
- the importance of key members of our account teams to our
business relationships;
- the competitive nature of the industries in which we
operate;
- our dependence on large exhibition event clients;
- adverse effects of show rotation on our periodic results and
operating margins;
- transportation disruptions and increases in transportation
costs;
- natural disasters, weather conditions, accidents, and other
catastrophic events;
- our exposure to labor cost increases and work stoppages related
to unionized employees;
- our multi-employer pension plan funding obligations;
- our ability to successfully integrate and achieve established
financial and strategic goals from acquisitions;
- our exposure to cybersecurity attacks and threats;
- our exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations;
- liabilities relating to prior and discontinued operations;
and
- compliance with laws governing the storage, collection,
handling, and transfer of personal data and our exposure to legal
claims and fines for data breaches or improper handling of such
data.
For a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties
that may affect our business or financial results, please see Item
1A, “Risk Factors,” of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K
filed with the SEC. We disclaim and do not undertake any obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press
release except as required by applicable law or regulation.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220324005344/en/
Carrie Long or Michelle Porhola Investor Relations (602)
207-2681 ir@viad.com
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