SeaWorld reports lower attendance, but shares rise
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. reported lower attendance, earnings and revenue amid criticism from animal-rights groups, but Wall Street doesn’t seemed fazed.
The Orlando, Fla., company, which operates SeaWorld San Diego, said nearly 6.5 million people visited its 11 parks during the three months that ended June 30, a 1.6% drop from a year earlier.
Earnings fell 84% to $5.8 million and revenue declined 3% to $391.6 million.
Food and merchandise sales per guest remained flat while per capita revenue from admission dropped 2.8%, mostly because of promotional offerings.
By comparison, Walt Disney Co. reported Tuesday that revenue from its parks and resorts rose 4%. Comcast Corp. said its Universal theme parks posted a 26% jump in second-quarter revenue, supercharged by the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” attraction in Orlando.
Despite the rough waters, SeaWorld shares rose 74 cents, or 4.3%, to $18.14 on Thursday. In the last two years, the stock price tumbled 50%.
SeaWorld executives blamed the decline in attendance on bad weather at SeaWorld San Antonio, a shift in the timing of Easter to the first quarter this year and condemnation of the treatment of its orcas by animal-rights groups that intensified with the 2013 release of the documentary “Blackfish.”
The film accused the company’s parks of mistreating killer whales, charges that SeaWorld has dismissed as unfair and inaccurate. It has hired a new chief executive, announced plans for larger orca tanks and launched a $10-million advertising campaign defending its treatment of whales and promoting the company’s work to benefit animals.
CEO Joel Manby said he was confident that the company’s promotional efforts, including television commercials, have counteracted the protests and helped rebuild the company’s reputation.
“We will continue to fight with the facts because the facts are on our side,” he said during a conference call with analysts.
The company has cited a study, published in a peerreviewed journal and written by three SeaWorld researchers and a vice president from the Minnesota Zoo, that says orcas live as long in captivity as their counterparts in the wild.
SeaWorld’s plan to nearly double the size of its orca enclosure in San Diego recently ran into a snag. A decision by the California Coastal Commission on the project was pushed back from August to October after the agency received more than 75,000 emails and letters.
Manby told analysts that he wasn’t worried about the delay.
SeaWorld critics said the lower attendance numbers prove that the public has turned against the animal parks.