Hurricanes have been blamed for a fall in revenue and other metrics in United Parks & Resorts Q3 results.
The company behind SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and other US theme parks saw seven million guests visit its eight theme parks and four water parks across the period, which is 1.4 per cent down on comparable figures from 2023.
Total revenue decreased by US$2.3m to $545.9m, while net income dropped by $3.9m to $119.7m. However, total revenue per capita increased by one per cent to $77.66.
The third quarter of 2024 saw the company repurchase 4.1m shares for approximately $211.7m, while it also came to the aid of 132 animals in need in the wild, which takes the number it has helped over its history to more than 41,000.
Marc Swanson, CEO of United Parks & Resorts, put the decrease down to bad weather, which included a pair of hurricanes earlier in the year.
He said: “Third quarter results were impacted by both a negative calendar shift and meaningfully worse weather, including Hurricane Debby in August and Hurricane Helene in September.
“The combined impact of the calendar shift and the meaningfully worse weather was approximately 320,000 guests. Adjusting for these impacts, attendance would have increased approximately three per cent compared to the prior year quarter.
"As we continue to see strong demand for our parks during normalised operating conditions and we are growing total revenue per capita.
