WeightWatchers 2006 Annual Report Download - page 4

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of $209.8 million. These results highlight the solid profi t-
ability and strong cash generation of our business mod-
el. During the year, we continued to seek out avenues to
maximize our cash fl ows to the benefi t of our sharehold-
ers, through accretive franchise acquisitions, share re-
purchases, quarterly dividends and prudent investments
to support the continued growth of our business.
Our meetings business is our primary growth driver. In
2006 Weight Watchers reported over 61 million com-
pany-owned meeting attendances worldwide, with
North America witnessing attendance growth of 6 per-
cent to 35 million. In addition to attendance growth, we
continue to demonstrate our ability to grow revenues at
a faster rate than our volume. We have been able to
increase our average revenue per cycle through pric-
ing, growth in product sales, and more recently through
the successful implementation of commitment plans
in the United States. Through our 50,000 meetings
conducted around the globe each week, our members
continue to benefi t from our unique and proven blend
of group support and education focused on healthy
eating, behavior modifi cation and physical activity.
We know from over four decades of clinical research
and direct customer experience, that the more meet-
ings our members attend, the more successful they
are at losing weight and keeping it off. In support of
this, we have been developing new payment plans to
encourage a deeper commitment and active engage-
ment from our members. In 2006, we introduced
throughout our North American meetings business
two exciting new commitment plans for our members
to choose – Season Pass and Monthly Pass.
Under the Season Pass commitment plan – which we
introduced at the beginning of 2006 across our North
American meetings business – our members can
choose to prepay for meetings for a pre-defi ned 17-
week period for one upfront fee. Season Pass was
Strawberry Nonfat Yogurt
Everything Pretzel Thins Baked Snack GIANT Cookies & Cream Bar