SeaWorld cutting 320 jobs companywide, San Antonio park affected

SeaWorld San Antonio is laying off 11 people as part of a round of 320 job cuts resulting from a companywide restructuring announced Tuesday, SeaWorld San Antonio President Carl Lum said.

The layoffs are part of a plan to reduce costs and streamline operations across its 12 parks, Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment Group Inc. said in announcing the cuts Tuesday.

“It is an unfortunate, but necessary, consequence of the restructuring that some positions will be lost,” the company said, adding that it is offering “enhanced severance benefits and outplacement assistance” to terminated workers.

Lum declined to say what positions were being eliminated at the San Antonio park, which he estimates currently employs about 1,500 workers, but said the jobs were in the “back of the house.”

“It’s not about their performance, it’s about the company, and we have to control some of our costs,” Lum said. “They’re all good people so it’s important to treat them well.”

The restructuring is part of a program announced in November aimed at eliminating $65 million in costs and generating $40 million in net savings by December 2018. SeaWorld last laid off 311 workers across its parks in December 2014 — one day after Jim Atchison, who had worked as CEO and president since 2009, announced his resignation.

SeaWorld’s stock fell to $17.84 a share Tuesday morning after news of the restructuring announcement broke, but later regained its value, closing at $18.21 a share, up from Monday’s closing price of $18.12 a share.

The announcement caps a shaky year for the theme park group as it shifts away from mammal-driven entertainment and toward rides and educational programming.

SeaWorld posted revenue of $485.3 million for the three-month period ending Sept. 30, the company reported in November — a 2.3 percent drop from the $496.9 million made during the same period in 2015. The company’s profit fell 32.9 percent from last year’s $98 million — $1.14 per share — to $65.7 million, or 77 cents per share, during the third quarter of this year.

Bad weather in the northeastern U.S. depressed turnout at SeaWorld’s parks there, but the company said attendance grew at its San Antonio and California parks during the third quarter.

Lum declined to share exact attendance figures for the San Antonio park but said turnout from its Halloween and holiday season programming has been solid.

SeaWorld announced plans in September to halve its quarterly dividend payment, suspend future dividends beginning in 2017, and use $190 million in savings to buy back stock. CEO Joel Manby said the move would give SeaWorld “the greatest flexibility to deploy capital to the opportunities that offer the greatest long-term returns to our shareholders.”

Six days prior, California Gov. Jerry Brown held SeaWorld to its March pledge to end its orca breeding program and retool its shows to emphasize natural behavior by signing legislation banning the breeding of killer whales and their use in entertainment shows.

But orcas will live in SeaWorld parks for years to come. Takara, a 25-year-old whale at the San Antonio facility, is expected to give birth to a calf early next year — the last orca to be born at a SeaWorld park.

The theme park chain has sought to mend its public image — damaged by the 2013 documentary film “Blackfish,” which negatively portrayed the company’s treatment of killer whales — by injecting more capital investment dollars into its parks. SeaWorld plans to spend around $175 million a year on rides, events and other attractions.

SeaWorld is expected to plug at least $18 million into building the Wave Breaker roller coaster — a ride intended to simulate marine animal rescue efforts — at its San Antonio park. Lum said the ride will open in June.

jfechter@express-news.net

Twitter: @JFreports