Easter shift hurts SeaWorld in 1st quarter

SeaWorld's first-quarter loss narrowed, but the theme park operator's revenue declined because a change in Easter's date affected the timing some families' spring break vacations.

Shares dropped 6 percent before the market open on Tuesday.

For the three months ended March 31, the Orlando, Florida-based company lost $61.1 million, or 72 cents per share. A year earlier it lost $84 million, or $1 per share.

Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected a loss of 53 cents per share.

Revenue fell to $186.4 million from $220.2 million, as the Easter holiday shifted into the second quarter this year. Many schools typically have spring break near the Easter holiday and families take vacations then.

SeaWorld's quarterly revenue was below the $206.7 million that analysts polled by Zacks were looking for.

Attendance for the quarter slipped 14.9 percent, mostly because of the shift in Easter's timing. Through April attendance is basically flat.

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. declined $1.05, or 6 percent, to $16.50 in premarket trading.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SEAS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SEAS

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Keywords: SeaWorld, Earnings Report