SeaWorld Entertainment reported improved park attendance
and revenue for the first quarter of 2016, a trend the company said it expects
will continue as it works to repair its image.
“Our March announcement to end all orca breeding and
transition our theatrical shows toward more natural orca encounters, as well as
our new partnership with the Humane Society of the United States, were
transformational decisions that we expect should contribute to an improvement
in performance over time,” SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby said on Thursday.
Manby, who was hired last year to turn around the company,
said that SeaWorld conducted a survey following the orca announcement and found
that consumers’ positive feelings about SeaWorld and their intent to visit the
theme parks had increased considerably compared to before the decision to end
the orca shows.
Attendance at the SeaWorld parks in the first quarter
increased by 2.6%, to 3.3 million. SeaWorld reported revenue of $220.2 million,
up from $214.6 million in the first quarter of 2015.
Manby said that revenue growth was driven by higher
attendance at parks in Virginia, Texas and California. Attendance dropped at the
company's Florida locations (SeaWorld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove in Orlando
and Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa), primarily due to a decline in
international attendance from Latin America, the company said.
“Orlando generates about 30-or-so percent of its
attendance from international guests. We don't drill down into each of those
countries, but Brazil is the lion's share of that when you compare it to the
other countries, so it’s significant for us,” said SeaWorld CFO Peter Crage
during the company’s earnings call.
“We're seeing some softness in other [markets], but
Brazil really stands out, obviously, because of the currency difference. We're
hearing anecdotally in businesses around Florida and Miami that Brazil is an
issue for them, as well.”
Despite revenue and attendance growth, SeaWorld reported
a net loss of $84 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared with a $43.6
million loss in the first quarter of 2015.
However, Manby repeated on numerous occasions that the
company is poised for recovery.
“We’re very confident that we are turning the corner,” he
said.