LODGENET TO PRESENT AT CL KING BEST IDEAS CONFERENCE
Presentation to Highlight Business and Growth Opportunities after Recent Acquisitions
Company To Discuss New Revenue Opportunities, Acquisition Integration and Q3
Guidance
New York, NY – September
17, 2007 – LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation (NASD: LNET) is scheduled
to present tomorrow at the CL King Best Ideas Conference. LodgeNet President & CEO
Scott C. Petersen will provide an updated presentation on the Company’s
business and expanded growth opportunities given the recent acquisitions
of On Command and StayOnline. The Company will also issue financial
guidance for the third quarter and full year 2007.
“As the world’s largest provider of media and connectivity
services to hospitality businesses, the “New LodgeNet” is well
positioned to drive enhanced value for both our customers and our shareholders,” said
Petersen. “Given the scope of our new platform and capabilities,
we see four primary growth areas which will provide opportunity to generate
incremental revenue across our base in the coming year: high speed internet
access, high-definition television provisioning, consulting services and advertising. Taken
together, theses four areas should enable us to diversify our business and
to generate greater revenue and margin by leveraging the scope and capabilities
created by our larger base and expanded organization.”
We see growth opportunities related to expanding our high-definition
television and high-speed Internet access services across our 1.8 million room
interactive television room base. Both services are presently installed
in only a small percentage of our rooms and are being successfully offered
pursuant to business models that should result in significant, profitable growth
for our Company.”
“We believe the acquisitions also substantially enhanced
our opportunity to create a new source of revenue based on the advertising
value of the guest within the room,” continued Petersen. “Given
our new, expanded scale, we see a multi-platform advertising opportunity within
the fast growing ‘out of home’ advertising market based on both
the television and Internet mediums. With On Command, we acquired an
existing advertising business, The Hotel Networks (THN), which provides advertiser-supported
cable television programming to more than 350,000 of our rooms. THN will generate
approximately $10 million in advertising-based revenues this year. We
recently acquired full ownership of THN and engaged a well-known national consulting
firm to assist us in prioritizing the many potential opportunities within this
emerging area. We are focused on driving revenue and value from this
new business opportunity in 2008 and beyond.”
Petersen will also comment on the progress of the On Command
integration. “Only five months have passed since the acquisition
and we have already made more than 95% of the decisions required to operate
as a unified organization. We are highly pleased with the cooperation
and talent we have found within the On Command organization and that has assisted
us in accelerating the integration of the two companies. Based
on our progress, we anticipate substantial value creation from three categories:
annual operating synergies of at least $15 million; incremental guest-generated
entertainment revenue of approximately $10 million per year; and annual hotel-paid
television programming revenues of approximately $12 million.”
Petersen will also provide financial guidance for third quarter
and full-year 2007. “After the On Command acquisition, we issued
our full-year 2007 guidance in June based on our understanding of On Command’s
operating results and trends based on information we had at the time. Given the
recent results produced by the On Command platforms, we currently believe that
overall 2007 revenue and Adjusted Operating Cash Flow will be somewhat less
than we were anticipating in June. We have a rigorous program underway
to reverse the revenue shortfall and still fully expect that over the next
12 months that we will bring the On Command revenue performance in line with
LodgeNet’s revenue metrics. Given the relative quality of
the On Command base, we believe that this is a realistic goal.”
Petersen will announce that for the third quarter, LodgeNet expects revenue
in a range from $144.5 million to $147.5 million. Adjusted Operating Cash Flow*
is expected to be in a range from 37.0 million to $39.0 million. Net loss is
expected to be $(12.0) million to $(10.0) million or loss per share of $(0.53)
to $(0.44). Adjusted Net Loss** is expected to be $(6.0) million to $(4.0)
million or $(0.26) to $(0.17) per share.
For the full year 2007, LodgeNet expects to report revenue in the range of
$490.0 million to $500.0 million and Adjusted Operating Cash Flow* is expected
to be in a range from $130.0 million to $135.0 million. Net loss is expected
to be $(59.0) million to $(54.0) million or loss per share of $(2.57) to $(2.35). Adjusted
Net Loss** is expected to be $(20.0) million to $(15.0) million or $(0.87)
to $(0.65) per share. Capital investment for 2007 is expected to be in
a range from $75 million to $80 million. This guidance reflects eleven months
of LodgeNet StayOnline and nine months of On Command operations.
* Adjusted Operating Cash Flow is a non-GAAP measure which we define as Operating
Income exclusive of depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation, restructuring
charges and integration expenses.
** Adjusted Net Income (Loss) excludes amortization of purchase intangibles,
restructuring charges and integration expenses, and the cost of refinancing
the 9.5% senior notes.
The Company has posted a copy of the CL King Conference presentation on its
website at: www.lodgenet.com.
About LodgeNet
LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation is the leading provider of media and
connectivity services designed to meet the unique needs of hospitality,
healthcare and other visitor and guest-based businesses. LodgeNet serves more than 1.9 million
hotel rooms representing 9,300 hotel properties worldwide in addition to healthcare
facilities throughout the United States. LodgeNet's services include on demand
movies, games, television programming, music and information, along with subscription
sports programming and high-speed Internet access. LodgeNet Entertainment
Corporation owns and operates businesses under the industry leading brands: LodgeNet,
LodgeNetRX, On Command and StayOnline. LodgeNet is listed on NASDAQ and trades
under the symbol LNET. For more information, please visit www.lodgenet.com.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statement
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking
statements”. When used in this press release, the words “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “goal,” “no
assurance” and similar expressions, and statements which are made in
the future tense or refer to future events or developments, including, without
limitation, those related to estimated revenue, are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements
are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from
any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. In addition to the risks and uncertainties discussed
herein, such factors include, among others, the following: the effects of economic
conditions, including in particular the economic condition of the lodging industry,
which can be particularly affected by international crisis, acts or threats
of terrorism and public health issues; competition from providers of similar
services and from alternative systems for accessing in-room entertainment;
competition from HSIA providers; changes in demand for our products and services;
programming availability, timeliness, quality, and costs,; technological developments
by competitors; developmental costs, difficulties, and delays; relationships
with customers and property owners; the availability of capital to finance
growth, the impact of government regulations; potential effects of litigation;
risks of expansion into new markets; risks related to the security of our data
systems; and other factors detailed, from time to time, in our filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. With respect to any acquisition, we
are subject to risks that integration costs will exceed expectations, that
synergies we anticipate will not be realized, or will take longer than anticipated
to realize, that our management and management systems will encounter difficulties
in dealing with a bigger, more diversified enterprise, and that the financial
results we expect from the acquisition will not be realized. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We expressly disclaim
any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions
to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in
our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.
LodgeNet is a registered trademark of LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation. All
rights reserved. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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