Ambassadors Group Reports Earnings Per Share of $1.50 for 2004.SPOKANE Spokane, city, United States Spokane (spōkăn`), city (1990 pop. 177,196), seat of Spokane co., E Wash., at the spectacular falls of the Spokane River; inc. 1881. , Wash. -- Ambassadors Group The Ambassadors Group was originally an operating division of Ambassadors International, Inc., but was divested into a separate corporation in 2002 to form the company under its current name. , Inc. (Nasdaq:EPAX EPAX Electronic Private Automatic Exchange ), a leading provider of educational travel experiences, announced net income of $15.6 million for the year ended December December: see month. 31, 2004, resulting in $1.50 earnings per share. The comparable 2003 net income was $10.2 million and 2003 earnings per share was $1.00. Year Ended December 31, 2004 The year-over-year net income increase was driven by gross program receipt growth and expense management. Gross program receipts increased $38.5 million, 36 percent, to $147.1 million in 2004 from $108.6 million in 2003. This increase resulted from traveling approximately ap·prox·i·mate adj. 1. Almost exact or correct: the approximate time of the accident. 2. 35 percent more delegates in 2004 over 2003. Net revenue increased $14.2 million, 38 percent, to $51.8 million in 2004 from $37.7 million in 2003, and the gross margin percentage was consistent between 2004 and 2003 at 35 percent. Operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. incurred during the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 grew at a lesser rate than gross program receipts and net revenue. Operating expenses were $29.2 million and $23.1 million, for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively. This $6.1 million, or 26 percent, increase resulted from increased personnel costs to support additional delegates, marketing efforts for 2005 travel, and professional fees associated with Sarbanes Oxley Oxley refers to several things: People
The profit realized from a business' own operations. Notes: This would not include income from things such as investments in other firms. Also referred to as operating profit or recurring profit. was $22.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2004, compared to $14.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2003. Quarter Ended December 31, 2004 The fourth quarter 2004 net loss was $4.1 million, resulting in $0.41 loss per share. The comparable fourth quarter 2003 net loss was $3.3 million, or $0.33 loss per share. Fourth quarter 2004 gross program receipts were $9.1 million, compared to $5.5 million for the comparable period of 2003. Net revenue was $3.3 million and $2.2 million for the quarters ended December 31, 2004, and 2003, respectively. The 50 percent, or $1.1 million, increase resulted from traveling approximately 70 percent more delegates than the same quarter a year ago at slightly less gross margins. Gross margins during the quarter ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, were 36 percent and 40 percent, respectively. For the quarters ended December 31, 2004 and 2003, operating expenses incurred were $9.9 million and $7.4 million, respectively. The 34 percent increase resulted from increased personnel costs to support efforts for 2004 and 2005 travel and increased professional fees associated with Sarbanes Oxley compliance. Operating loss operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. was $6.6 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2004, compared to $5.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2003. The Company's cash, cash equivalent and available-for-sale securities balances on December 31, 2004 and 2003, were $87.6 million and $67.5 million, of which $38.6 million and $28.2 million represented participant Participant A party of a funding. It usually refers to the lowest rank or smallest level of funding. deposits, respectively. Deployable cash (see definition on final page of press release) at December 31, 2004 and 2003, was $43.2 million and $32.9 million, respectively. "We are pleased to announce our 2004 financial results. The year-over-year gains reflect a more favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. global environment, as well as continued progress in developing the core competencies A core competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions specified by Hamel and Prahalad (1990):
The first public release of a translator to Scheme by Matt Birkholz, Jim Miller, and Ron Weiss, written at Digital Equipment Corporation's Cambridge Research Laboratory runs , President and Chief Executive Officer of Ambassadors Group, Inc., said. "We are fortunate to have a team in place that has been working to improve its performance while demonstrating flexibility in responding to an unusually high number of changes in the marketplace. We expect that there will continue to be challenges in the months ahead, and we plan to continue to enhance our flexibility and learning capabilities." "Clearly, one of our challenges in 2004 was to effectively and efficiently scale the service capabilities of the organization to meet the needs of 35 percent more delegates in 2004 than in 2003," Thomas continued. "We anticipate continued scaling as we grow and evolve Evolve may refer to several terms:
Ambassadors Group Inc. will host a conference call to discuss the 2004 results of operations on Friday Friday: see Sabbath; week. Friday young Indian rescued by Crusoe and kept as servant and companion. [Br. Lit.: Robinson Crusoe] See : Servant , Feb. 4, 2005, at 8:30 a.m. PST PST Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, see there . Interested parties may join the call by dialing 888-396-2369, then entering the pass code: 65174992. The conference call may also be joined via the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the at www.AmbassadorsGroup.com/EPAX. For post-view access, parties may dial 888-286-8010 with the pass code of 61266722 and follow the prompts, or visit the www.AmbassadorsGroup.com/EPAX website. Post-view dial-in access will be available beginning Feb. 4 at 1:30 p.m. until Feb. 18 at 10:30 a.m. Post-view Webcast access will be available following the conference call through April 4, 2005. Ambassadors Group, Inc. is a leading educational travel company that organizes and promotes international and domestic programs for students, athletes and professionals. These programs provide opportunities for grade school, and junior and senior high school students to visit foreign and domestic destinations to learn about the history, government, economy and culture of such areas, as well as for junior and senior high school athletes to participate in international sports challenges Sports Challenge was a sports-centered game show that aired in weekly syndication from 1971 to 1979, with a separate version airing briefly on CBS in 1973. Dick Enberg was host. Johnny Gilbert, Art James, and John Harlan announced. . The Company's professional programs emphasize meetings and seminars between participants and persons in similar professions abroad. Forward-Looking Statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's actual and expected financial performance and the reasons for variances between quarter-to-quarter results. Forward-looking statements, which are included per the "safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. " provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this release. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and may not reflect risks related to the conflict in the Middle East and international unrest Unrest is a sociological phenomenon, for instance:
see epidemic. of disease, conditions in the travel industry, direct marketing environment, changes in economic conditions and changes in the competitive environment. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to provide public updates or revisions ReVisions is a 2004 anthology of alternate history short-stories. It is edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Isaac Szpindel. Contents Title Author The Resonance of Light James Alan Gardner Out of China Julie E. to any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in Company expectations or any change in events. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained at·tain v. at·tained, at·tain·ing, at·tains v.tr. 1. To gain as an objective; achieve: attain a diploma by hard work. 2. . For a more complete discussion of these and other factors, please refer to Ambassadors Group, Inc. 10K filed March 12, 2004, 10Q filed Nov. 9, 2004, and proxy See proxy server. (networking) proxy - A process that accepts requests for some service and passes them on to the real server. A proxy may run on dedicated hardware or may be purely software. filed April 14, 2004.
The following summarizes the Company's statements of operations
for the years and quarters ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 (in
thousands, except per share amounts). Certain prior-period amounts
have been reclassified to conform with current year financial
presentation. Such reclassification had no impact on previously
reported net income or stockholders' equity.
Years ended December 31, 2004 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross program receipts $147,130 $108,582
Net revenue $ 51,824 $ 37,665
Operating expenses:
Selling and tour promotion 22,616 18,534
General and administration 6,537 4,566
-------- --------
Total operating expenses 29,153 23,100
-------- --------
Operating income 22,671 14,565
Other income, net 1,035 820
-------- --------
Income before tax 23,706 15,385
Income tax provision (8,059) (5,231)
-------- --------
Net income $ 15,647 $ 10,154
======== ========
Weighted average shares outstanding -- basic 10,045 9,923
Earnings per share -- basic $ 1.56 $ 1.02
Weighted average shares outstanding -- diluted 10,449 10,170
Earnings per share -- diluted $ 1.50 $ 1.00
UNAUDITED
--------------------
Three months ended December 31, 2004 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross program receipts $ 9,097 $ 5,465
Net revenue $ 3,319 $ 2,213
Operating expenses:
Selling and tour promotion 6,874 5,522
General and administration 3,013 1,830
-------- -------
Total operating expenses 9,887 7,352
-------- -------
Operating loss (6,568) (5,139)
Other income, net 280 154
-------- -------
Loss before tax (6,288) (4,985)
Income tax benefit 2,139 1,695
-------- -------
Net loss $ (4,149) $(3,290)
======== =======
Weighted average shares outstanding -- basic and
diluted 10,065 9,978
Loss per share -- basic and diluted $ (0.41) $ (0.33)
The Company has a single operating segment consisting of the
educational travel and sports programs for students, athletes and
professionals. These programs have similar economic characteristics,
offer comparable products to participants, and utilize similar
processes for program marketing.
The following summarizes the Company's balance sheets as of
December 31, 2004 and 2003 (in thousands):
2004 2003
------- -------
Assets
------
Cash and cash equivalents (includes $12 of
restricted cash) $34,737 $33,653
Available-for-sale securities 52,820 33,872
Foreign currency exchange contracts 2,609 5,209
Prepaid program cost and expenses 2,461 1,608
Accounts receivable 123 233
------- -------
Total current assets 92,750 74,575
Property and equipment, net 3,911 2,966
Deferred income tax 735 1,664
Other assets 120 116
------- -------
Total assets $97,516 $79,321
======= =======
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
------------------------------------
Accounts payable and accruals $ 4,277 $ 4,435
Participants' deposits 38,608 28,220
Deferred tax liability 723 1,690
Other current liabilities 3,953 3,575
------- -------
Total current liabilities 47,561 37,920
Capital lease, long term 454 592
------- -------
Total Liabilities 48,015 38,512
------- -------
Stockholders' equity 49,501 40,809
------- -------
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $97,516 $79,321
======= =======
Deployable cash is a non-GAAP liquidity measure. The following
summarizes the Company's deployable cash as of December 31, 2004 and
2003 (in thousands):
2004 2003
------- -------
Cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale
securities $ 87,557 $ 67,525
Prepaid program cost and expenses 2,461 1,608
Less: Participants' deposits (38,608) (28,220)
Less: Accounts payable, accruals and other
liabilities (8,230) (8,010)
-------- --------
Total deployable cash $ 43,180 $ 32,903
======== ========
Management believes this non-GAAP measure is useful to investors
in understanding the cash available to deploy for future business
opportunities.
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