On the 13th SEAS posted preliminary revenue results that should be a company record. Here is some of the text from their SEC filing.
"Driven by record fourth quarter total attendance at the Company’s SeaWorld-branded parks in Orlando, Fla., San Diego, Calif. and San Antonio, Texas, total revenue for 2013 is expected to be approximately $1.46 billion which would represent a full-year record for the Company in its 50-year operating history.
Additionally, the Company reaffirmed its full-year 2013 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $432 million to $442 million. Final earnings anywhere within the guidance range also would represent a full-year record for the Company.
“We are very pleased with our fourth quarter performance, particularly for the SeaWorld-branded parks in Orlando and San Diego, which helped us to achieve record revenue for the year,” said Jim Atchison, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
The Company expects to release final fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 results in March 2014."
Even though this sounds like good news it may not be as in reading this article I found here; http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/01/17/seaworld-problems-with-earnings-quality/ (note: this article also has some Blackfish info in it) the company has highly leveraged its debt. Also the article points out that their EBITDA numbers are not produced like most companies do them. This makes SEAS number look more favorable. Even still the company thinks it can manage the debt and maybe even take on some more. Having Blackstone sell a bunch of their shares recently reduces their leverage in managing the company which should put current management in a better position to run the company more like they want to. As such S&P recently upgraded the company (mentioned in the article) after it was downgraded a while ago . Another article I read said that there's a possibility in the future for the company to convert itself over to a REIT. That would put it in better financial position and put it in the same category as a lot of other parks.
It's going to be interesting to see what the final financial filings have in them and also what attendance numbers come out as. I really hope that this is the start of them turning things around so all of the budget cuts stop and they can improve the parks.
"Driven by record fourth quarter total attendance at the Company’s SeaWorld-branded parks in Orlando, Fla., San Diego, Calif. and San Antonio, Texas, total revenue for 2013 is expected to be approximately $1.46 billion which would represent a full-year record for the Company in its 50-year operating history.
Additionally, the Company reaffirmed its full-year 2013 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range of $432 million to $442 million. Final earnings anywhere within the guidance range also would represent a full-year record for the Company.
“We are very pleased with our fourth quarter performance, particularly for the SeaWorld-branded parks in Orlando and San Diego, which helped us to achieve record revenue for the year,” said Jim Atchison, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
The Company expects to release final fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 results in March 2014."
Even though this sounds like good news it may not be as in reading this article I found here; http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2014/01/17/seaworld-problems-with-earnings-quality/ (note: this article also has some Blackfish info in it) the company has highly leveraged its debt. Also the article points out that their EBITDA numbers are not produced like most companies do them. This makes SEAS number look more favorable. Even still the company thinks it can manage the debt and maybe even take on some more. Having Blackstone sell a bunch of their shares recently reduces their leverage in managing the company which should put current management in a better position to run the company more like they want to. As such S&P recently upgraded the company (mentioned in the article) after it was downgraded a while ago . Another article I read said that there's a possibility in the future for the company to convert itself over to a REIT. That would put it in better financial position and put it in the same category as a lot of other parks.
It's going to be interesting to see what the final financial filings have in them and also what attendance numbers come out as. I really hope that this is the start of them turning things around so all of the budget cuts stop and they can improve the parks.