Great American Family Parks CEO Issues Letter to Shareholders
October 05 2005 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOISE, Idaho, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great American
Family Parks, Inc. (OTC:GFAM), a company focused on aggregating
profitable regional theme parks in the U.S., issued today a letter
from President and CEO Dr. Larry Eastland. Dear Fellow Shareholder:
As the CEO of Great American Family Parks, I am pleased to provide
you with a progress report on your company. I am excited for you to
be a shareholder of GFAM at a time when we believe we may realize
strong corporate growth. We believe GFAM is the only public company
on the market today focused on acquiring regional
entertainment/amusement parks nationwide. The potential of owning
10 regional parks is the equivalent of owning one international
theme park, the only difference being that multiple parks tend to
diversify investment risk while having the potential of maximizing
potential returns. By aggregating parks into a public company, we
believe that we will have the opportunity to infuse equity for
additional expansion, while potentially leveraging our centralized
management, unified branding, cost and operational efficiencies,
and economies of scale to create a family of profitable parks. Our
first major acquisition is accretive to earnings. Our first
acquisition, Wild Animal Safari, Inc., is located as an easily
accessible one-hour drive time from Atlanta, Georgia, as well as
Columbus, Georgia and Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama. Wild
Animal Safari is one of the few remaining animal parks in America
where visitors can experience more than 1,500 animals 'up close and
personal.' With nearly $2 million in annual revenues, earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of
$900,000 and bottom-line profits in 2004, Wild Animal Safari has
displayed an excellent growth pattern, including consistent
profitability, throughout its 14-year operating history, which I
believe will continue. Destination "day trips" are a high-growth
market niche. According to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers Theme Park
Study, theme parks outperformed the movie industry by almost $3
billion. The study reports that regional parks are fast becoming
mini-destination resorts as growth in day trips are offsetting
declines in international and domestic travel. The study further
reported that this trend is expected to create an $8.3 billion
regional theme park industry in five years. Park admission revenues
are just the beginning for GFAM. We anticipate creating multiple
revenue streams from food and beverage concessions, merchandising
and multimedia offerings to new, live attractions across a growing
family of parks. We recently acquired nationally branded food
franchises, Noble Roman's Pizza and Tuscano's Italian Subs, to
provide us with what we anticipate will be a distinct advantage to
capture consumer dollars. Strengthening Financials. Consolidated
sales of $6,365,000, EBITDA of $634,000 and net income of $191,000
for the year ended December 31, 2004 were generated from Wild
Animal Safari Park, and the Company's long-standing Crossroads
Convenience Center (CCC) retail business. Now, together under GFAM,
these businesses are growing revenues above 15% per year. We look
forward to sharing each positive development as we continue to
execute our plan for growth. Should you have any specific questions
or for more information, please contact Rick McCaffrey at our
investor relations firm OTC Financial Network, 781-444-6100 ext.
625; email or visit http://www.otcfn.com/gfam/ and
http://www.weloveparks.com/ for future updates. As always, we
sincerely thank you for your interest and continued support in
GFAM. With best regards, Larry L. Eastland, Ph. D. President and
CEO Great American Family Parks, Inc. About Great American Family
Parks Great American Family Parks is focused on buying and managing
profitable regional theme parks and themed amusement attractions in
the United States. By building a family of parks each with up to 1
million annual attendees, GFAM is in the process of developing a
series of compatible, yet distinct entertainment and amusement
products, including themed amusement parks, associated products,
food and beverage, and multimedia offerings. Regional theme parks
are a relatively recession-proof growth market. Nationwide,
regional park attendance is projected to bring collective
attendance to 263.8 million by 2007. Overall revenues for America's
regional theme parks are expected to total $8.31 billion within
five years. (source: Price Waterhouse Coopers) For more
information, visit http://www.weloveparks.com/. Investors should
visit http://www.otcfn.com/gfam. Safe Harbor Statement Under The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements in
the press release that relate to the company's expectations with
regard to the future impact on the company's results from new
products in development are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The results anticipated by any or all of these forward-looking
statements may not occur. For more information, contact: Rick
McCaffrey Investor Relations OTC Financial Network 781-444-6100
x625 . http://www.otcfn.com/gfam DATASOURCE: Great American Family
Parks, Inc. CONTACT: Investor Relations, Rick McCaffrey of OTC
Financial Network, +1-781-444-6100, ext. 625, , for Great American
Family Parks, Inc. Web site: http://www.otcfn.com/gfam
http://www.weloveparks.com/
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