SeaWorld Entertainment parks are still feeling the financial sting of the pandemic, with both revenue and attendance during the final quarter of 2020 roughly half of what they were a year earlier, the company reported Thursday.
While the slide was not as precipitous as it was a quarter earlier when attendance plunged by more than 80 percent, the decrease was still significant. In the last three months of last year, traditionally a slower period when several seasonal parks are normally closed for the winter, there were 2.5 million fewer guests, a decline of 53 percent. Overall revenue, totaling $154 million, fell by $144 million, or 48 percent.
The Orlando-based company reported that it suffered a net loss for the quarter of $45.5 million, which included a legal settlement charge of $32.1 million. That compares to a net earnings loss of $24.2 million a year earlier.
Interim CEO Marc Swanson sought to put a positive spin on the latest financial results, noting that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were positive for the quarter, and net cash flow, not counting deferred payments to its vendors, approached the break-even point.
"Our fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 results clearly demonstrate our company's agility, creativity and determination to operate in one of the most challenging environments we have ever encountered," Swanson said in a statement. "While the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted our operations with park closures in the spring followed by restricted openings including capacity limitations, our ambassadors worked collaboratively to find ways to operate within the health and safety guidelines established by federal, state and local governments."
While nearly all of its 12 parks had reopened by the start of the fourth quarter, all were operating at reduced capacities because of COVID-19. SeaWorld San Diego, which was shut down for most of December as hospitalizations surged in Southern California, partially reopened earlier this month but with strict limitations on capacity. Statewide, large theme parks are barred from resuming operations until there has been a substantial lowering of infection rates in individual counties.
The company, while having a cash balance of $434 million at the end of 2020, reported that it is burning through a net $18 million a month, which includes previously deferred payments to vendors.
On a positive note, SeaWorld said it realized higher revenue per capita for both admissions and spending inside the parks during the fourth quarter. Both categories showed a more than 9 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.
