By the first quarter of next year, though, it will have to remain in compliance with the loan terms, SeaWorld reported. Meanwhile, given the ongoing cash crunch that could last for several more months, SeaWorld announced Tuesday that it has amended the terms of its revolving loan, which will effectively help it forestall the possibility of a default during the second, third and fourth quarters of this year. Yet at the same time that it is no longer paying the vast majority of its workers, SeaWorld announced just a week ago that it was awarding stock options totaling $6.8 million to Swanson and six other high-ranking executives who would qualify for the bonuses over the next two years as long as they remain employed. It also is working with its vendors and business partners to “manage, defer, and/or abate certain costs during the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Just this week, the Walt Disney Co., whose major theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando and in Europe remain closed, stopped paying more than 100,000 employees this week - nearly half of its workforce.Īmong the cost-cutting moves being taken by SeaWorld, in addition to furloughing workers, are 20 percent pay cuts for executive officers, elimination of advertising, and a substantial reduction or deferral of capital expenditures, the company reported. I guess this postpones the day of reckoning.” “Lenders may still be accommodating, but SeaWorld still has live animals to take care of and they’re not as diversified as Universal and Disney, which have other things to keep them going.
Swanson recently was named to fill in as CEO when SeaWorld’s previous chief executive, Serge Rivera, quit after just five months on the job. “I am proud of our team and thankful for their resilience during these uncertain times,” Interim CEO Marc Swanson said in a statement. Securing new debt, though, should help it remain financially secure into the fourth quarter of 2021, SeaWorld reassured its investors. With no income now coming in from any of its parks, SeaWorld still faces a net outflow of up to $25 million every month even as it continues to cut costs and preserve cash, the company reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s after two healthy months of robust gains in attendance, which was up 9 percent compared to the same two months in 2019. Where a year ago, the Orlando-based company reported revenue of more than $220 million for the first quarter, SeaWorld said Tuesday that it is now expecting revenue of just $150 million to $155 million, a decline of as much as 32 percent. While the company reported it had seen record attendance and revenue during January and February of this year, the good news quickly soured the following month when it closed all its parks on March 16 and later furloughed 95 percent of its workers starting the first of this month. In a move to shore up its finances during a pandemic that last month forced it to shut down its 12 theme parks, SeaWorld Entertainment announced Tuesday it is raising $227.5 million through a private offering that it can use to help pay its bills.