CEO: Great Wolf Resorts' model working well in gloomy economy

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. (Nasdaq:WOLF) CEO John Emery said the operator of indoor water-park resorts’ business model is working well in the challenged economy. Emery made the comments during a morning conference call.

“The model obviously worked great in the stronger environment, it seems to be holding up on a relative basis much, much better than most consumer spending models in this environment and we see no change in that going forward,” Emery said. “Obviously, we can’t predict that for the entire future. Our booking window isn’t that long.”

The chief executive said the Madison, Wis.-based company’s second-quarter bookings to date through April and forward bookings through June are “well ahead” of last year’s pace. Both of the firm’s two newest resorts are also “well exceeding” revenue expectations, Emery said.

For the second quarter, Great Wolf expects a loss between $0.20 and $0.16 per share.

The firm’s cash flow is picking up quickly, but Emery said the company’s forward capital commitments have dropped by half in the last six months.

“We’re down to two projects that we’re committed to right now,” he said.

Great Wolf is expanding its Grapevine, Texas-based resort by 200 rooms and adding meeting spaces. The Grapevine project will finish by the end of 2008, . . .

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