SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 14, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ambassadors Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:EPAX) ("Company"), a leading provider of educational travel experiences, announced that on December 13, 2010, it repurchased 666,724 shares of its common stock for approximately $7.3 million, or $11.00 per share. The transaction took place through a negotiated block purchase. The Company executed the transaction under previously announced buyback authorizations by its Board of Directors.
"Our repurchase program combined with our existing dividend policy is consistent with the Company's commitment to returning real value to our shareholders while staying focused on both continued profitability and fulfilling our core mission," stated Jeff Thomas, president and chief executive officer of Ambassadors Group, Inc. "We do not believe this move will have a strategic impact to our near term cash needs. We have an additional $6.9 million left in authorized potential share buybacks. The allocation of capital resources remains an important area of attention for our team."
Business Overview
The Company is a socially conscious education company located in Spokane, Washington, and is the parent company of Ambassador Programs, Inc., World Adventures Unlimited, Inc. and BookRags, Inc., an educational research website. The Company also oversees the Washington School of World Studies, an accredited travel study and distance learning school. Additional information about the Company and its subsidiaries is available at www.ambassadorsgroup.com. In this press release, "Company", "we", "us", and "our" refer to Ambassadors Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
The Ambassadors Group, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3541
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding our actual and expected financial performance. Forward-looking statements, which are included per the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this release. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and may not reflect risks related to international unrest, outbreak of disease, conditions in the travel industry, direct marketing environment, changes in economic conditions and changes in the competitive environment. We expressly disclaim any obligation to provide public updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in our expectations or any change in events. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be met. For a more complete discussion of these and other factors, please refer to the Ambassadors Group, Inc. 10-K filed March 2, 2010, proxy statement filed April 13, 2010, and 10-Q filed November 5, 2010.
CONTACT: Ambassadors Group, Inc. Anthony F. Dombrowik, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (509) 568-7800