SeaWorld continues losing streak, names Ross to the board

SeaWorld reported another loss quarterly quarter with an ongoing decline in attendance exacerbated by this year's hurricanes.

Attendance has suffered since the 2013 documentary "Blackfish" suggested that its treatment of animals may have led to the deaths of trainers. It announced last year that it would not breed killer whales and stop using them in shows.

The company has been cutting costs to help counter the decline in attendance, which fell 8.8 percent during the third quarter. The company last month said it would cut 350 positions, mostly at its Orlando headquarters.

SeaWorld also named Scott Ross to the board of directors. Ross is the founder and managing partner of private equity firm Hill Path Capital, the company's biggest shareholder.

The third-quarter loss narrowed to $55 million, or 64 cents per share, but that was much worse than the per-share earnings of 78 cents that Wall Street was looking for, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue fell 9.8 percent to $437.7 million, also well short of the $455.7 million that industry analysts had projected. .

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., which have fallen 41 percent since the beginning of the year, slipped almost 2 percent before the opening bell Tuesday.

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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