By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Six Flags (NYSE:SIX) fell 8% as attendance plummeted amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Six Flags reported a loss per share of $1.37 compared to the expected loss of $1 on sales of $126 million, lower than the estimated $143 million. Attendance fell to 2.6 million guests, a decline of 11.4 million visitors from a year earlier. Nine of the company's 26 parks were closed in the third quarter because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and those that were open were subject to attendance limitations.
On the upside, in-park spending per capita in the third quarter increased due to a higher mix of single-day guests, who tend to spend more on a per visit basis.
The company initiated a transformation plan in March to improve long-term profit growth, including revenue and productivity initiatives. The plan is centered on technology and providing more value for its guests’ time and money. Six Flags expects the transformation plan to generate an incremental $80 million to $110 million in annual run-rate earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
“We made substantial progress towards our goal of modernizing the guest experience as we become a more agile, consumer-centric, productive, and technology-savvy organization," said Chief Executive Officer Mike Spanos in a statement. "We expect the transformation to enable significant profit growth once our plan is fully executed in a post-pandemic environment.”