SeaWorld Profits Up As Revenue & Attendance Drops
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ORLANDO, Fla. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — SeaWorld's revenue fell as the theme park and entertainment company's attendance declined, sending the company's shares lower in premarket trading.
Its profit rose from results a year ago when it absorbed by a hefty charge, but the earnings missed Wall Street expectations.
Its shares dropped $1.44, or 9.7 percent, to $13.40 in premarket trading ahead of the opening bell.
For the three months ended June 30, SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. earned $17.8 million, or 21 cents per share. A year earlier the Orlando, Florida-based company earned $5.8 million, or 7 cents per share.
The prior-year period included a charge of $122 million for restructuring and other related costs.
The latest earnings results were short of Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were looking for earnings of 23 cents per share for the latest quarter.
Revenue declined to $371.1 million from $391.6 million. Analysts were looking for $371.8 million in revenue, according to a Zacks poll.
Overall attendance dropped by 7.6 percent, with the company saying it was because of lower attendance at its Florida park locations and a shift in the timing of holidays this year.
President and CEO Joel Manby said in a written statement Thursday that Florida parks were hurt by an accelerated decline in Latin American guests, Tropical Storm Colin and an overall downturn in the Orlando market in the second half of June.
Things were better at SeaWorld's 250-acre marine park in San Antonio. Revenues at the Texas location were up 2-percent this year, compared to being down 17-percent last year.
Earlier this year SeaWorld announced that it would end all orca breeding and transition its shows toward more natural orca encounters. The company has faced intense scrutiny ever since the 2013 release of "Blackfish," a highly critical documentary.
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