Ambassadors Group Reports Loss Per Share of $0.26 for the First Quarter of 2005.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 a loss of $0.26 per share, or $2.6 million, in the first quarter of 2005, compared to a loss of $0.22 per share, or $2.2 million, in the first quarter of 2004. Due to the seasonal nature of our business, we anticipate and plan for both first and fourth quarters of the year to be loss quarters. During the first quarter of 2005, gross receipts the total of the receipts, before they are diminished by any deduction, as for expenses; - distinguished from net profits. - Bouvier. See under Gross, a. os> See also: Gross Receipt increased 46 percent quarter over quarter, to $6.0 million from $4.1 million in the comparable quarter of 2004. Net revenue also increased when comparing the quarters, to $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2005 from $1.3 million in the comparable 2004 quarter. A 16 percent gross margin improvement for the first quarter of 2005 resulted in a 36 percent first quarter 2005 gross margin, compared to a 31 percent gross margin in the comparable quarter one year ago. 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. increased to $6.6 million in the first quarter of 2005 from $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2004. The $1.7 million increase in operating expenses primarily resulted from shifting the timing of domestic and professional program marketing and mailing expenses. As a result of the foregoing, we had an 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. of $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2005 compared to $3.6 million in the comparable quarter of 2004. We realized other income of $0.5 million in the first quarter of 2005 compared to $0.2 million in the first quarter of 2004. Other income consists primarily of interest income generated by cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale securities (cash). Interest income more than doubled when comparing quarters, due to increased cash balances and increased interest rates between the two quarters. Comparing year over year quarters, our cash, cash equivalent and available-for-sale securities balances at March 31, 2005 and 2004 were reported at $118.6 million and $98.2 million, of which $86.4 million and $72.7 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 the press release) increased $9.0 million between March 31, 2005 and 2004 to $37.2 million from $28.2 million, respectively. In comparison to the year ended December December: see month. 31, 2004, our cash, cash equivalent and available-for-sale securities balances at March 31, 2005 increased $31.0 million. At December 31, 2004, cash, cash equivalent and available-for-sale securities balances were $87.6 million, of which $38.6 million represented participant deposits. Deployable cash (see definition on final page of the press release) at March 31, 2005 and December 31, 2004 decreased $6.0 million to $37.2 million from $43.2 million, respectively. Jeff Thomas (language) Thomas - A language compatible with the language Dylan(TM). Thomas is NOT Dylan(TM). 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 , CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and President of Ambassadors Group, Inc., stated, "We are pleased to report that Ambassadors Group, Inc. continued to change and grow in the first quarter of 2005. We grew our number of delegates traveled from 1,500 to 2,500 in first quarter, an increase of 67 percent. Most of this growth is the result of continued development within our domestic programs structure. The higher levels of operating expense Operating Expense The essential things that a company must purchase in order to maintain business. Notes: For example, the payment of employees wages are an operating expense. Also known as OPEX. , from $4.9 million to $6.6 million, reflect an expansion and shift in the timing of the marketing efforts for our domestic and professional programs. When these changes are taken together, the financial model for first quarter looks less and less like prior years, primarily manifested in a larger loss than past years. "However, with the majority of our enrolled delegates scheduled to participate in programs throughout the summer -- the second and third quarters -- we are focused on retaining the enrollments that we have collected to date, as well as working to maintain the gross margins that were budgeted prior to several unfavorable cost trends in the travel industry. For example, many airlines and motor coach companies are implementing fuel surcharges -- the result of oil being priced over $50/barrel for sustained periods of time. In addition, the continued weakness in the U.S. dollar relative to our key currencies has made our final foreign exchange for 2005 more expensive than planned." Mr. Thomas continued, "Since 9/11, the world in which we operate has ceased to be 'normal,' although we continue to adapt to the new challenges that seem to occur on a regular basis. Thank you for your continued support." We will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2005 results of operations on Tuesday Tuesday: see week. , April 19, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time. You may join the call by dialing 888-396-2298, then entering the pass code: 59163617. Or, you may also join the call 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, you may dial 888-286-8010 with the pass code 13074957 and follow the prompts, or visit www.AmbassadorsGroup.com/EPAX. Post-view dial-in access will be available beginning April 19, 2005 at 10:30 a.m. until April 26, 2005 at 10:30 a.m., both Pacific time. Post-view Webcast access will be available following the conference call through July July: see month. 14, 2005. We, Ambassadors Group, Inc., are a leading educational travel company that organizes and promotes international and domestic programs for students, athletes, and professionals. These programs provide the opportunities for grade school, 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. . Our professional programs emphasize meetings and seminars between participants and persons in similar professions abroad. We are headquartered in Spokane, Washington Spokane (pronounced [spoʊ̯ˈkæn]) is a city located in Eastern Washington. The seat of Spokane County, Spokane is the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest, the second largest city in Washington state, and , with associates also in Playa playa or pan or flat or dry lake Flat-bottomed depression that is periodically covered by water. Playas occur in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts in arid and semiarid regions. Vista, California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). ; Denver Denver, city (1990 pop. 467,610), alt. 5,280 ft (1,609 m), state capital, coextensive with Denver co., N central Colo., on a plateau at the foot of the Front Range of the Rocky Mts., along the South Platte River where Cherry Creek meets it; inc. 1861. , Colorado Colorado, state, United States Colorado (kŏlərăd`ə, –răd`ō, –rä`dō), state, W central United States, one of the Rocky Mt. states. ; and Washington Washington, town, England Washington, town (1991 pop. 48,856), Sunderland metropolitan district, NE England. Washington was designated one of the new towns in 1964 to alleviate overpopulation in the Tyneside-Wearside area. , D.C. 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 our 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 our 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. We expressly disclaim dis·claim v. dis·claimed, dis·claim·ing, dis·claims v.tr. 1. To deny or renounce any claim to or connection with; disown. 2. To deny the validity of; repudiate. 3. 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 our expectations or any change in events. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our 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 the Ambassadors Group, Inc. 10K filed March 15, 2005, 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, 2005. The following summarizes our financial information for the quarters ended March 31, 2005 and 2004 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
UNAUDITED
-----------------
Quarter ended
March 31,
-----------------
2005 2004
------- -------
Gross program receipts $ 5,978 $ 4,099
Net revenue $ 2,179 $ 1,260
Operating expenses:
Selling and tour promotion 5,512 3,785
General and administration 1,137 1,073
------- -------
Total operating expenses 6,649 4,858
Operating loss (4,470) (3,598)
Other income, net 475 203
Loss before income tax benefit (3,995) (3,395)
Income tax benefit 1,358 1,154
------- -------
Net loss $(2,637) $(2,241)
======= =======
Loss per share - basic and diluted $ (0.26) $ (0.22)
======= =======
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and
diluted 10,092 10,017
======= =======
We have 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 our balance sheets as of March 31, 2005,
March 31, 2004, and December 31, 2004 (in thousands):
UNAUDITED AUDITED
------------------- --------
March 31, Dec. 31,
------------------- --------
2005 2004 2004
-------- -------- -------
Assets
------
Cash and cash equivalents $ 52,651 $ 55,018 $34,737
Available-for-sale securities 65,981 43,218 52,820
Foreign currency exchange contracts 2,368 4,689 2,609
Prepaid program cost and expenses 12,808 8,796 2,461
Other current assets 1,487 1,400 123
-------- -------- -------
Total current assets 135,295 113,121 92,750
Property and equipment, net 4,267 3,375 3,911
Deferred income tax 710 1,639 735
Other assets 126 116 120
-------- -------- -------
Total assets $140,398 $118,251 $97,516
======== ======== =======
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
------------------------------------
Accounts payable and accruals $ 3,934 $ 1,899 $ 4,277
Other liabilities 3,793 4,032 3,806
Participants' deposits 86,360 72,709 38,608
Deferred tax liability 610 1,517 723
Current portion of long-term capital
lease 148 145 147
-------- -------- -------
Total current liabilities 94,845 80,302 47,561
Capital Lease, long term 416 563 454
-------- -------- -------
Total Liabilities 95,261 80,865 48,015
-------- -------- -------
Stockholders' equity 45,137 37,386 49,501
-------- -------- -------
Total liabilities and stockholders'
equity $140,398 $118,251 $97,516
======== ======== =======
The following summarizes our deployable cash(a) as of March 31, 2005,
March 31, 2004, and December 31, 2004 (in thousands):
UNAUDITED AUDITED
------------------- ---------
March 31, March 31, Dec. 31,
2005 2004 2004
--------- --------- ---------
Cash, cash equivalents and available-
for-sales equivalents $118,632 $ 98,236 $ 87,557
Prepaid program cost and expenses 12,808 8,796 2,461
Less: Participants' deposits (86,360) (72,709) (38,608)
Less: Accounts payable/accruals/other
liabilities (7,875) (6,076) (8,230)
-------- -------- --------
Deployable cash $ 37,205 $ 28,247 $ 43,180
======== ======== ========
(a) Deployable cash is a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting
principles) liquidity measure. Deployable cash is calculated as
the sum of cash and cash equivalents, available for sale
securities and prepaid program costs and expenses less the sum of
accounts payable, accrued expenses and other short-term
liabilities (excluding deferred taxes), participant deposits and
the current portion of long-term capital lease. We believe this
non-GAAP measure is useful to investors in understanding the cash
available to deploy for future business opportunities and is
presented as supplementary information to enhance the readers
understanding of, and highlight trends in, our financial position.
Any non-GAAP financial measure used should not be considered in
isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance or
liquidity prepared in accordance with GAAP.
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