SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. Reports Third Quarter and Year-To-Date 2018 Results

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., today reported its financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2018. Here are some highlights for the third quarter:

1. Attendance increased by 0.7 million guests, or 9.7%, to 8.3 million guests from the third quarter of 2017.
2. Total revenue increased by $45.5 million, or 10.4%, to $483.2 million from the third quarter of 2017.
3. Net income was $96.0 million, compared to net income of $55.0 million in the third quarter of 2017.
4. Adjusted EBITDA was $212.4 million, an improvement of $38.6 million, or 22.2%, over the third quarter of 2017.

First nine months 2018 highlights:

1. Attendance increased by 1.4 million guests, or 8.7%, to 18.0 million guests from the first nine months of 2017.
2. Total revenue increased by $94.4 million, or 9.5%, to $1.09 billion from the first nine months of 2017.
3. Net income was $55.8 million, compared to a net loss of $181.9 million in the first nine months of 2017.
4. Adjusted EBITDA was $336.7 million, an improvement of $87.8 million, or 35.3%, over the first nine months of 2017.

Other highlights:

The Company successfully completed a refinancing and amendment to its credit facilities, which among other things, extended maturities, removed financial covenants and generally provides enhanced financial flexibility.

"We are pleased to report another quarter with strong financial results," said John Reilly, Interim Chief Executive Officer of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. "These results continue to show the strength of our underlying business model and the effectiveness of our strategic pricing strategies, marketing and communications initiatives and the positive reception of our new rides, attractions and events. We continued to see a double-digit increase in season pass sales revenue this quarter, further underscoring the effectiveness of our strategies."

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"Third quarter attendance and revenue growth demonstrated continued strength during our peak summer season. Our increase in total revenue per capita was driven by a 7.4% increase in in-park per capita spending that was attributable to our improved culinary and merchandise offerings and other in-park offerings including our front of the line pass Quick Queue. And, as we have communicated before, we remain laser focused on identifying and executing on additional cost savings and creating efficiencies that will improve our margins and lead to increased profitability."

"We [...] recently announced our line-up of new rides, attractions and events across our parks for 2019. 2019 will feature what I believe is our best line up ever of new rides, attractions and events with a new ride, attraction or event in almost every one of our 12 parks. We are looking forward to the many brand new thrilling experiences coming to our parks next year. We are also enthusiastic about our new season pass program. In October, we introduced our new season pass structure and pricing that makes our parks more affordable than ever before with increased flexibility, more variety and the best and most valuable benefits we have ever offered."

"We have significant scope to improve our pass base and to increase loyalty among our guests and the predictability and recurring nature of our revenues. While we have delivered better financial results though the first nine months of this year, as we have said all year, there is significant additional opportunity for improvement.  Our team is committed to continue to drive top-line and bottom-line results and to operating more efficiently than ever before, which we expect will allow us to increase our operating margins and reach our 2020 goal of delivering $475 million to $500 million of Adjusted EBITDA. We are excited about the future and confident we will continue to deliver operational and financial improvement leading to increased shareholder value."

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