20150615-NEWS--1-NAT-CCI-CL_-- 6/12/2015 3:21 PM Page 1 $2.00/JUNE 15 - 21, 2015 Surging Cedar Fair isn’t just enjoying the ride By TIMOTHY MAGAW strategic plan — dubbed FUNFor- nounced it was targeting $500 mil- Witherow, Cedar Fair’s executive Parent company
[email protected] ward, as the company’s stock lion in EBITDA by 2018 — some- vice president and chief financial trades under the symbol “FUN” — thing Cedar Fair’s top brass be- officer, “but a lot it was not revolu- The parent company of San- that targeted $450 million, or more, lieves can be reached by focusing tionary, but just evolutionary.” of Cedar Point is dusky’s Cedar Point amusement in adjusted earnings before inter- on the guest experience, advance A big piece of Cedar Fair’s growth park has grown at a steady clip est, taxes, depreciation and amorti- ticket sales, digital technology and strategy hinges on repeat visits and amid a still-challenging economy, zation, or EBITDA, by 2016. But a disciplined approach to big-tick- luring more guests from beyond its bumping up its and unlike its roller coasters, it’s having concluded its fifth record et construction projects. Last year, parks’ immediate markets. At not planning to come to a screech- year in 2014, the company, which Cedar Fair finished the year with Cedar Point, the company’s flag- ing halt after reaching record operates 14 parks in North Ameri- EBITDA of $431 million. ship park, that strategy is particu- growth targets heights. ca, is eyeing an even more ambi- “We had been sitting there think- larly evident in the dramatic, mul- In 2012, the new management tious growth target.