COMPAGNIE DES ALPES (EPA:CDA) - Compagnie des Alpes // 2016/2017 annual results

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12/12/2017 07:50

Press Release

                           2016/2017 ANNUAL RESULTS:
            PERFORMANCE AND RETURN ON CAPITAL FURTHER IMPROVED

- Objectives set in 2013 m et two years ahead of schedule :
    o Ski Area EBITDA: 36.2%
    o Leisure Destination EBITDA(1): 28.1%
    o Operational ROCE(2): 8.9%
- Operating incom e up b y m ore than 27%
- Stream lin ing of international Grévin operations
- Dividend of EUR0.50/share, an increase of 25%

Paris, December 12, 2017 - The Board of Directors of Compagnie des Alpes, in a
meeting chaired by Dominique Marcel, approved the Group's consolidated
financial statements for financial year 2016/2017.

(in thousands of EUR)
                     2016/17   2016/17   2015/16   Change   2015/16   Change
                      Actual    Comp.*    Comp.*   Comp.*    Actual   Actual
Sales                 762.2     761.5     714.3     +6.6%     720.2    +5.8%
Divisional EBITDA (3) 227.0     228.0     205.3    +11.1%     206.3   +10.0%
Divisional EBITDA/
Sales                 29.8%     29.9%     28.7%   +120 bps    28.6%  +120 bps
Operating income       93.1      93.0      72.7    +27.9%      73.1   +27.4%
Net attributable
income, Group share    31.3       -         -         -        33.4    -6.3%

Net investments       160.0     159.9     152.4     +5.0%     153.6    +4.2%
Free cash flow from
operations(4)          45.1       463      35.5    +30.3%      35.2   +28.0%

* Comp. stands for comparable scope; Comparable scope data for 2016/2017 and
  2015/2016 wholly exclude Fort Fun, which was sold in April 2017. They are
  calculated down to the operating income.

                                  ******

Commenting on the results for the financial year, Dominique Marcel, Chairman
and CEO of Compagnie des Alpes, said: "We are very pleased with the results for
this year. Once again, they validate our strategy as we reached the performance
and return on capital objectives that we set four years ago. We are currently
in a virtuous momentum, driven in particular by the actions we undertake to
regenerate attendance at our ski resorts and by the intensifying of growth
investments in our leisure destinations, while strengthening the performance of
both activities. Firmly anchored in its two core businesses, the Group is ready
to seize any acquisition opportunity as well as to play a structuring role in
the consolidation of the leisure industry. In parallel, and in view of the
long-term changes that will transform our sector, the project aimed at bringing
in new shareholders in order to step up the pace of the Group's development
remains a strategic priority."

(1) Futuroscope eliminated and comparable scope
(2) See glossary
(3) See glossary
(4) See glossary

A GOOD YEAR THAT ALLOWED CDA TO REACH ITS TARGETS TWO YEARS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Consolidated sales for the Group reached EUR762.2 million. On a comparable
basis, sales rose by 6.6% to EUR761.5 million. This performance was achieved
thanks to dynamic sales across the Group's businesses:

- Ski Areas:              +4.2%
- Leisure Destinations:   +8.4%
- Group Development:     +57.0%

Against the backdrop of low snow levels last winter, Ski Area sales increased
over the full year, due in particular to an increase in the number of skier
days for the second year in a row, to 13.8 million (+ 0.5%). Sales for the year
totaled EUR426.9 million, up 4.2%. Lift ticket sales, strictly speaking,
progressed by 4.4%, while the average sales per skier day rose by 3.9%.

Leisure Destination sales, on a comparable basis, amounted to EUR320.2 million,
an increase of 8.4% that was driven in particular by substantial growth in
attendance, which rose by 6.4% year-on-year to 8.3 million visits. Customer
satisfaction remained high throughout the season, despite this increase in
attendance. In Park sales added to the overall dynamic and, as a result,
cumulative sales growth over the past four years was more than 31% on a
comparable basis.

Group Development experienced sustained sales growth, driven primarily by the
dynamism of Chaplin's World by Grévin. Overall, sales were up by 57% for
financial year 2016/2017, reaching EUR14.3 million. Besides, new consulting
contracts were signed, raising the Group's international profile.

On a comparable basis, Divisional EBITDA(5) increased by 11.1% to EUR228
million. The EBITDA/Sales margin continued to improve, ending the year up 1.2
points (29.9%).

EBITDA for the Ski Areas division rose by 5.3% compared with the previous
financial year, reaching EUR154.5 million. Consequently, the margin continues
to improve, reaching 36.2%. This improvement attests to the capacity of the
Group's facilities to control operating costs and optimize their operating
processes.

On a like-for-like basis, the EBITDA for Leisure Destinations continues along
its virtuous path and, after an increase of 6.9% in 2015/16 and 17.8% in
2014/2015, it has further increased by 16.5%, reaching EUR78.3 million. This
performance was driven by sales growth and disciplined fixed cost management
despite the additional security costs incurred over the past two years. The
promising results of the first phase of the Asterix Park accommodation plan
were another supportive factor.

The margin increased by 1.7 percentage points to 24.5%. Eliminating
Futuroscope, the EBITDA margin stands at 28.1%, exceeding by two years the
target set for 2019 by the Group.

Group Development EBITDA for the year was a negative EUR4.8 million that
nonetheless was an improvement of EUR3.9 million when compared with the prior
financial year. Chaplin's World By Grévin completed its first full year of
operation and broke even. The Prague and Seoul facilities continue to post
losses despite the action plans rolled out to spike attendance.

Operating Income rose substantially (+27.4% actual scope) to reach EUR93.1
million, thanks primarily to sales growth and the improvement in operating
margins for all business divisions. Expenses linked to the depreciation of
fixed assets rose by 3.4%, as a result of the Group's investment strategy for
the past three years.

At the end of the season, the Seoul and Prague facilities reported results that
disappointed expectations, including in the prospect of medium-term plans.
Under these circumstances, the decision was made to pull away from the
management of these assets either through disposal or closure, which led to an
asset impairment charge for the 2016-2017 financial year of EUR18.8 million.

(5) See glossary

Net cost of debt remains unchanged, at EUR16.1 million, despite the carrying
cost of the new financing.

Accordingly, net attributable income, Group share, for financial year 2016/2017
came to EUR31.3 million, compared with EUR33.4 million for the prior financial
year, due primarily to the asset impairment.

In addition to the asset impairment, the 2016/2017 financial year saw the
windup of operations-related events that generated compensation income as well
as an income related to the settlement a 30-year old litigation with the
Belgian tax authority for a total amount of EUR3.7 million. In addition, the
tax on dividends was eliminated this year which had a positive impact of EUR2.0
million. Excluding the impact of these one-off items, net attributable income,
Group share, came to EUR44.4 million.

As the Group had announced earlier, industrial investments net of disposals
came to EUR159.9 million versus EUR152.4 million for the previous financial
year. They represent an investment/sales ratio of 20.2% for Ski Areas and of
21.6% for Leisure Destinations on a comparable scope basis.

Free Cash Flow from Operations(6) rose by a substantial 28.0% to reach EUR45.1
million. This increase reflects the sustained improvement in the Group's
self-financing capacity despite the investment efforts for this year.

Given the improvement in Group performances during the 2016/2017 financial
year, the net debt/EBITDA ratio continues to improve and stood at 1.87 at
year-end, versus 2.01 for the previous financial year.

Operational ROCE(7) improved substantially, reaching 8.9% and, in so doing,
surpassing the objective the Group had set for 2019. It measures the return on
capital invested in Ski Areas and Leisure Destinations and its constant
improvement over the past four years validates the Group's investment strategy
over this period.

Dividend distribution: EUR 0.50/share
The Board of Directors will propose at the Annual Meeting called on March 8,
2018 to approve the financial statements that shareholders vote to distribute a
dividend of EUR0.50 per share, which represents a payout ratio of 38.9% of the
net attributable income, Group's share. While remaining compatible with the
high level of investment required to consolidate the Group's growth, this
amount illustrates management's confidence in the pursuit of its performance.

Refinancing
On March 15, 2017, the Group announced the success of the refinancing of its
2017 bond (EUR200 million) as well as the amendment of its syndicated RCF
(EUR250 million). The transaction further strengthens its financing structure,
diversifies sources of financing and extends the average debt maturity to 6.6
years, with no major due date falling before 2022. It will lower the net cost
of debt by more than 40% as of 2017-2018, as the weighted average rate of
financing raised is less than 1.5%.

Sale of Fort Fun
On April 26, 2017, the Group announced the sale of the Fort Fun amusement park
in Germany to the Looping group. This disposal has an insignificant impact on
the Group's income statement, with the interim losses (recorded at the
beginning of the season when park sales are low) being offset by the capital
gain on the sale.

(6) See glossary
(7) See glossary

RECLASSIFICATION OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT BUSINESSES

As from the first half of 2018, Grévin Seoul and Grévin Prague will be
classified as assets held for sale and discontinued operations in accordance
with IFRS 5 accounting standard. Regarding the other Group Development
businesses:

- The indoor sites businesses will be integrated within the Leisure
  Destinations division;
- The international commercial prospecting and consulting businesses will be
  reclassified in the Group's Holdings division which already includes the
  activities related to product development.

OUTLOOK & STRATEGY

Ski Areas
The first snowfall in the mountains and the long cold snap in November enable
our ski resorts to offer a quality product to our customers. In addition, the
dynamics of reservations booked to date are slightly higher than those of last
year.

The upcoming Christmas/New Year school holidays fall between the first and
second quarter, which will make any comparison with the first quarter of last
year very difficult.

Leisure Destinations
The 2017/2018 financial year got off to a good start, with the Halloween as
popular as ever, for all facilities. To date, presales for the "Christmas
Trees" events at Astérix are in line with those posted last year during the
same period.

Investments, EBITDA margins and ROCE objectives
For the Ski Areas division, in order to support the renewal and extension of
DSPs (delegated public service contracts), ensure adequate snow levels, and
deliver on the very high customer satisfaction objective, the level of
investment is expected to increase by around EUR7 million in 2017/2018.

For this division, the Group has set the objective of achieving an EBITDA/Sales
margin of around 36% over the next two financial year periods.

As for the Leisure Destinations division, growth will be driven by investments
in accommodation capacity (Parc Astérix) as well as in new offers
(transformation of Walibi Belgium and Walibi Rhônes-Alpes, opening of an
aquapark in Bellewaerde for instance). Investments for this division will
increase by around EUR20 million in 2017/2018.

As of October 1, 2017, the scope of the Leisure Destinations division includes
Chaplin's World by Grévin and Grévin Montréal. These activities are dilutive
to the EBITDA margin, but given the good performance recorded during this
financial year, the Group is maintaining for the new enlarged scope its
objective of an EBITDA margin (excluding Futuroscope) of 27% in 2019.

With respect to Operational ROCE, which measures the profitability of the
capital invested in Ski Areas and Leisure Destinations, while the expectation
is for a global increase over the 2018 to 2022 period, this increase is
expected to be non-linear given the fact that sales related to investments in
the Leisure Destinations division occurs one to two years after the recording
of capital expenditure and that opening-related expenses generally occur during
the fiscal year preceding their opening.

Upcoming events:

- 1Q 2017/2018 sales:     Thursday, January 18, 2018, after stock market closes
- Annual Shareholders'
  Meeting:                Thursday, March 8, 2018, afternoon
- 2Q 2017/2018 sales:     Thursday, April 19, 2018, after stock market closes

www.compagniedesalpes.com

                          Additional information

1 - Consolidated annual results, audited - October 1, 2016 through September
    30, 2017

               Financial   Financial Year   Financial Year    % Change
                 Year
              2016 / 2017   2016 / 2017      2015 / 2016    Comparable scope
(in MEUR)
             Actual scope Comparable scope Comparable scope
                  (1)           (2)               (3)        (2) - (3) / (3)
Sales             762,2        761,5             714,3             6,6%
EBITDA            203,4        204,4             183,1            11,6%
EBITDA/SALES      26,7%        26,8%             25,6%             4,7%
Operating Income   93,1         93,0              72,7            27,9%
Non-current
income or loss
(losses on
tangible assets)  -18,8
Net Cost of Debt
and Miscellaneous -19,2
Tax Expense       -19,9
Equity method       4,7
Net Income, current
business           39,9
Minority Interests -8,6
Net Attributable
Income, Group
Share              31,3

Financial Year
2015 / 2016         % Change
Actual scope    Actual scope
   (4)           (1) - (4) / (4)
  720,2                5,8%
  184,0               10,5%
  25,5%
   73,1               27,4%
    0,0
  -19,3               -0,7%
  -18,2                9,5%
    4,8               -1,6%
   40,3               -1,1%
   -6,9
   33,4               -6,3%

2 - Sales by division

               Financial   Financial Year   Financial Year    % Change
                 Year
              2016 / 2017   2016 / 2017      2015 / 2016    Comparable scope
(in MEUR)
             Actual scope Comparable scope Comparable scope
                  (1)           (2)               (3)        (2) - (3) / (3)
Ski Areas        426,9         426,9            409,6              4,2%
Leisure
Destinations     320,9         320,2            295,5              8,4%
Group Development 14,3          14,3              9,1             57,0%

Holdings and
supports           0,0           0,0              0,0

Sales            762,2         761,5            714,3              6,6%


Financial Year
2015 / 2016         % Change
Actual scope    Actual scope
   (4)           (1) - (4) / (4)

   409,6               4,2%
   301,4               6,5%
     9,1              57,0%
     0,0
   720,2               5,8%

3 - EBITDA by division

               Financial   Financial Year    % of Sales      Financial Year
                 Year                                         2015 / 2016
              2016 / 2017   2016 / 2017      2016 / 2017    Comparable scope
(in MEUR)
             Actual scope Comparable scope Comparable scope
                  (1)           (2)                                (3)
Ski Areas        154,5         154,5            36,2%             146,8
Leisure
Destinations      77,3          78,3            24,5%              67,2
Group Development -4,8          -4,8           -33,2%              -8,7
Holdings and
supports         -23,6         -23,6                              -22,3

EBITDA           203,4         204,4            26,8%             183,1

% of Sales     % Change     Financial Year    % Change
2015 / 2016    Comparable    2015 / 2016
Comparable       scope       Actual scope Actual scope
  scope
            (2) - (3) / (3)      (4)       (1) - (4) / (4)
  35,8%           5,3%          146,8            5,3%
  22,8%          16,5%           68,2           13,4%
-94,7%          44,9%           -8,7          -44,9%
                 -6,0%          -22,3            6,0%
  25,6%          11,6%          184,0           10,5%

* Data for 2016/2017 and 2015/2016 on a comparable basis exclude all sales form
  Fort Fun, sold in April 2017.

                                 Glossary

Divisional EBITDA: Combined EBITDA for Ski Areas, Leisure Destinations, and
Group Development

Free Cash Flow: Difference between self-financing capacity and net industrial
investments (changes in working capital requirements are not taken into
account).

Self-financing capacity = net income
- Plus depreciation, amortization and provisions, capital losses on disposals,
  dividends paid by companies accounted for under the equity method, and any
  other charges without cash impact
- Less reversals of provisions, capital gains on disposals, the share of income
  in companies accounted for by the equity method, and any other non-cash
  income.

Net industrial investments: Acquisitions of tangible and intangible assets net
of changes in accounts payable for fixed assets and proceeds from the sale of
fixed assets.

Free Cash Flow from Operations: Free cash flow before interest expense and
taxes.

ROOC: used to measure the profitability of capital invested in the Group's core
businesses (Ski Areas and Leisure Destinations). It corresponds to the ratio,
for each division and aggregated for both divisions, of after tax operating
income to consolidated net assets excluding goodwill.
  - After tax operating income is calculated after the deduction of a
    theoretical tax expense based on the normative tax rate of 33.33%
  - Net assets used excluding goodwill include:
    o The net values of long-term fixed assets after the exclusion of
      goodwill
    o Working capital requirement
    o Deferred tax assets net of deferred tax liabilities
    o Current provisions

For financial year 2016/2017, the reconciliation of ROOC is as follows:

                     Ski Areas and     Rest of the
                 Leisure Destinations      group       Total, Group

Operating income        110 702     -      17 576          93 126
Theoretical tax
expense (33.33%)       - 36 897             5 858   -      31 039
After-tax operating
income                   73 805     -      11 718          62 087
Assets used ex-goodwill 827 147     -       7 741         819 406
Operational ROCE            8,9%                               7,6%

Since it was founded in 1989, Compagnie des Alpes has established itself as an
uncontested leader in the leisure industry. At the helm of 11 of the world's
most prestigious ski resorts (Tignes, Val d'Isère, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Les
Menuires, Les 2Alpes, Méribel, Serre-Chevalier, etc.) and13 renowned leisure
destinations (Parc Astérix, Grévin, Walibi, Futuroscope, etc.), the company
is steadily expanding in Europe (France, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.) and,
more recently, at the international level (Grévin Montréal in April 2013,
Grévin Prague in May 2014, Grévin Seoul in July 2015 and engineering and
management assistance contracts (Russia, Morocco, Japan)). CDA also owns stakes
in 4 ski areas, including Chamonix. During the financial year ended September
30, 2017, CDA facilities welcomed nearly 23 million visitors and generated
consolidated sales of EUR762.3 million. With nearly 5,000 employees, Compagnie
des Alpes works with its partners to build projects that generate unique
experiences, the opposite of a standardized concept. Exceptional leisure
activities for everyone.

CDA is included in the following indices: CAC All-Shares, CAC All-Tradable,
CAC Mid & Small et CAC Small.
ISIN: FR0000053324 ; Reuters: CDAF.PA; FTSE: 5755 Recreational services.

Contacts:

Compagnie des Alpes:       Denis HERMESSE   +33 1 46 84 88 97
                           denis.hermesse@compagniedesalpes.fr
                           Sandra PICARD    +33.1 46 84 88 53
                           sandra.picard@compagniedesalpes.fr

Thomas Marko & Associés:   Alexis d'ARGENT  +33 1 46 84 88 79
                           alexis.dargent@compagniedesalpes.fr
                           Xavier YVON      +33.6 88 29 72 37
                           xavier.y@tmarkoagency.com

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