United Parks & Resorts Inc (PRKS) 2015 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to SeaWorld Entertainment's fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 financial results conference call. My name is Michelle, and I will be your conference operator today.

(Operator Instructions)

As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Mr. Mark Trinske, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded and webcast live. Our earnings release was issued this morning and is available on our investor relations website at SeaWorldInvestors.com. Replay information for this call can be found in the press release, and will be available on our website following the call.

Joining me on our conference call this morning are Joel Manby, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Peter Crage, our Chief Financial Officer. On today's call we will review our fourth-quarter and year-end 2015 financial results, along with recent factors impacting our business. And then we will open the call for your questions.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that our comments today will contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those forward-looking statements. Including those identified in the Risk Factor section in our most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K, which, from time to time, may be updated, and our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and are available on our website. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

In addition, on the call, we will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. More information regarding our forward-looking statements and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in the earnings release, and can also be found in our filings with the SEC. Now I would like to turn the call over to Joel Manby. Joel?

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. As we shared with you in November, we are taking action on a number of fronts as we continue to stabilize the business and turn the corner toward growth. We ended the year continuing to see signs that the business is stabilizing, as we recorded revenue and attendance growth in the fourth quarter, and reported adjusted EBITDA for 2015 within the guidance range we provided in November. Our free cash flow also improved more than 8%, to $90.9 million in 2015, enabling us to return $117 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock repurchases, despite a challenging and transitional year.

Last week, we announced changes to our leadership team in order to support the execution of our plan. These changes put the right talent in the right roles, and are an important step on our road map to stabilization and growth. John Reilly, current SeaWorld San Diego Park President, has been promoted to Chief Parks Operations Officer. And Dr. Chris Dold, current Vice President of Veterinary Services, has been promoted to Chief Zoological Officer. These changes will both be effective April 1. Both John and Chris are outstanding leaders, with proven track records and deep operational expertise, that will allow us to drive forward our strategic priorities.

At our SeaWorld San Antonio park, Carl Lum has joined the team as Park President. Carl showed great leadership during his tenure at our Virginia parks, overseeing an improvement in operational performance and achieving consistently high satisfaction scores and EBITDA growth while at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Since John Reilly will transition to Orlando in April, we also announced that Marilyn Hannes was promoted to lead the California location as Park President. Marilyn is a hospitality industry veteran, with more than 25 years of experience leading marketing and advertising programs, including her most present post as Corporate Vice President of Global Sales. And before that, Vice President of Marketing and Sales at SeaWorld San Diego under John's leadership. But her firsthand knowledge of the California consumer market and the political environment there will be of great value as we modify some of our park offerings, based on guest feedback at that location.

We are encouraged by our fourth-quarter results, hitting our guidance for the year and generating strong cash flow, as I discussed. At the same time, I want to remind all of you that the improvement in our results will not necessarily be constant or linear. For instance, the start of 2016 has been softer than we hoped in Florida, due to a few factors.

First of all, we had uncharacteristically wet weather during the month of January, which was a significant headwind, with two of our most significant parks in Tampa and Orlando having a combined 27 operating days of unfavorable weather, versus only seven days in the same period of 2015. So nearly four times as many rain days in January as last year. Now over the course of the year, of course, the effect of weather will typically even out. But in the short run, it can and did have an adverse impact in Florida.

Second, we have also seen demand pressures in international attendance. Our internal indicators show the majority of the international shortfall is coming from Latin American guests, driven by, we believe, the strong dollar's impact on tourist spending. To manage this going forward, we have already modified our international marketing to reflect more appropriate ticket offers, in light of the foreign exchange pressures. And we are working closely with our wholesalers in key international markets to increase awareness and our competitive positioning. As a reminder, in recent years, the first quarter is the smallest of all of our operating quarters, accounting for about 15% of our annual revenue.

Looking ahead to the rest of the quarter, we expect the first quarter to benefit from the timing of Easter and Spring Break holidays, as Easter will shift into the first quarter this year. And in addition, we're very excited about our two new roller coasters in Florida. Mako, the longest, tallest and fastest coaster in Orlando, is planned to open at SeaWorld in June. The coaster was topped out last month at 200 feet, and is changing the skyline with each passing day as it nears completion. Our guests are getting excited about riding our newest attraction in Orlando. And actually, I'm getting pretty excited as well, to take Mako for a ride.

In addition Cobra's Curse, opening this summer at Busch Gardens Tampa, will deliver family-friendly thrills on this unique spinning coaster. I recently visited both construction sites, and I'll tell you, the rides look fantastic and will really deliver. I look forward to all of you taking a ride in Orlando or a spin in Tampa. Our marketing teams are gearing up for a strong launch of both rides, with a multi-faceted integrated campaign ramping up to full steam soon.

In addition to the two coasters in Florida, Discovery Point in San Antonio will debut in May, and includes a new dolphin habitat and underwater viewing area. We're also excited to offer our San Antonio guests more options when they choose to visit our parks, by opening a separate gate for our Aquatica San Antonio Waterpark. In the past, guests could only access Aquatica after first purchasing an admission to SeaWorld San Antonio. With the new gate, guests can purchase a separate stand-alone ticket to Aquatica San Antonio, which also provides us the ability to market multi-park tickets at this location.

In November, I told you our five-point plan, and one of those points was organic and strategic revenue growth. To that end, we're pleased to announce progress in our international expansion. Last week, we moved to the next phase of our international development strategy with our Middle East partner, extending the memorandum of understanding and entering into an interim advisory services agreement. Under that agreement, certain funding will offset some level of our internal expenses as we now move toward definitive agreements. In addition, I hope you saw our press release that Steve Iandolo, who helped Universal Studios and Herschend Family Entertainment build four resorts combined, has joined our newly formed resort development group.

Switching from annual operations and growth to our corporate governance, I want to mention that Joe Baratta, whose current three-year term as a Director expires this year, has indicated that he will not stand for reelection to the Board at this year's annual meeting and will step down either following the meeting, or as soon as we have named a nominee to fill his seat. Joe and Blackstone remain supportive of our current plan and direction, but due to his steady increase and professional responsibilities at Blackstone as Global Head of Private Equity, Joe did not feel he could continue to devote adequate time to his direct role for another three-year term.

Joe has served on our Board since 2009 and has brought to the Board a highly constructive perspective. We are very grateful to Joe for his service, and I will miss his savvy and straightforward advice and council. Peter Wallace, a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, will remain a valued Board member. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board will be reviewing potential Board candidates, and continue to focus on ensuring the Board maintains the right combination of relevant experience, capabilities and expertise.

We are working very hard to deliver shareholder value as we work through the inevitable bumps in the road. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Peter to walk through our 2015 financial results and early-year indicators.

Thanks, Joel, and good morning, everyone. Our top-line and attendance trends improved in the fourth quarter, and we are working hard to continue to stabilize our business fundamentals and bring renewed financial discipline to this great Company.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, we reported total revenue of $267.9 million, an increase of $3.3 million versus the fourth quarter of 2014. Total revenue per capita increased to $60.77, up from $60.60 in the fourth quarter of 2014. The increase in per capita was driven by an increase in, in-park per capita spending to $22.88 from $22.51 in the prior-year quarter, reflecting culminary price increases. Admission per capita decreased slightly to $37.89 from $38.09 in the prior-year fourth quarter.

Attendance in the fourth quarter of 2015 increased by approximately 43,000 guests or 1%. The improvement reflects a favorable operating schedule for our fall events, offset by a decline in attendance at our Texas location. I will go into detail on the drivers of the performance in Texas and the operational adjustments we have made to improve its results, in just a few moments. We reported a net loss of $11 million or $0.13 per diluted share, an improvement over the net loss of $0.29 per diluted share reported for the fourth quarter of last year. Adjusted net loss was $9.6 million or $0.11 per diluted share, again, improving over the adjusted net loss of $17.8 million or $0.20 per diluted share in the prior year.

Turning to our full-year 2015 results, the Company generated total revenue of $1.37 billion, a decrease of $6.8 million from 2014. The slight decrease in total revenue was driven by a 0.8% decrease in total per capita, partially offset by a 0.3% increase in attendance for the year. The decrease in total per capita to $61.01 in 2015 from $61.51 in 2014 was a result of a 1.8% decrease in admission-per-capita spending, primarily due to an increase in promotional offerings and passholder visitation, along with an unfavorable shift in the park attendance mix compared to last year. In-park per capita spending increased to $23.32 in 2015, from $23.14 in 2014.

Attendance for 2015 increased by approximately 72,000 guests or 0.3%. Attendance improved at all but two of our park locations. This positive trend in attendance was primarily due to increased promotional offerings, strong passholder visitation, along with additional consumer event programs, and a favorable operating schedule due to the later timing of Labor Day in 2015.

The impact of these factors was largely offset by reduced attendance in Texas and California. As we discussed in our last earnings call, the decline in Texas primarily related to a reduction in passholder visitation due to changes made to the Fun Card product, along with a lack of significant competitive offerings. To address these challenges, the Company changed a Fun Card product for Texas. And to enhance our competitive positioning, we'll open our new attraction, Discovery Point, at SeaWorld San Antonio this May. Finally, as Joel mentioned, we implemented leadership changes at this location last week, with Carl Lum joining the San Antonio team as Park President. Carl's breadth of financial and operational expertise will be critical as we work to improve the performance of our San Antonio operations.

The decline in California in 2015 primarily relates to continued SeaWorld brand challenges at this location. Despite these challenges, however, revenue and adjusted EBITDA trends improved during the second half of 2015, with the rate of decline slowing on a year-over-year basis when compared to the first half of 2015. The recent improvement at our California location is evidence that our ongoing reputation campaign has experienced some success.

On the expense side, cost of food, merchandise and other revenues decreased 4.6% to $104 million in 2015, from $109 million in 2014. These costs represent 19.8% of related revenue in 2015, compared to 21% of related revenue last year. Improvement is a result of our active cost initiatives, including executing on our leveraged buying efforts. Operating expenses decreased 2.6% to $708.7 million in 2015, from $727.7 million last year. The decrease in operating expenses was a result of cost-saving initiatives implemented in December of 2014.

SG&A expenses increased 13% to $214.1 million in 2015, from $189.4 million last year. The increase was largely related to additional consulting costs, an increase in labor-related costs primarily attributed to new equity grants awarded in 2015, an increase in marketing costs related to our ongoing reputation campaign, and an increase in legal fees when compared to the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA, which we believe is an important metric, as it eliminates the effect of certain non-cash and other items not necessarily indicative of our underlying operating performance, was $361.1 million for 2015, and within the guidance we provided in November of last year. This represents a decrease of 2.4% from $370.1 million in 2014, reflecting a decrease in total revenue, along with an increase in SG&A expenses, partially offset by the decrease in operating expenses for 2015.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased 3.5% to $182.5 million in 2015, from $176.3 million last year. And this increase was due primarily to approximately $5 million of accelerated depreciation related to the closure of Gwazi wooden roller coaster at our Busch Gardens Tampa park. Along with additional depreciation due to the impact of new asset additions, offset by fully depreciated assets and asset retirements.

I would like to touch on depreciation and amortization expense for 2016. In January of this year, we made a decision to remove the deepwater lifting floors from our killer whale habitats at each of our three SeaWorld theme parks. These deepwater lifting floors were intended as another safety tool for conducting in-water training in the deeper pools. But after having safely and successfully conducted this training of our killer whales in the smaller medical pools for almost four years, the deepwater lifting floors in the deeper pools are no longer needed. So as a result of our decision to remove these lifting floors, we expect to record approximately $33 million of accelerated depreciation, primarily in the first quarter of 2016.

Also we will incur equity compensation expense of approximately $28 million in the first quarter of 2016. This expense is related to the vesting of performance-restricted shares tied to our accumulated return of cash proceeds to investment funds affiliated with Blackstone, and was triggered to vest with this week's dividend declaration. While both the accelerated depreciation and equity compensation expense are excluded from adjusted EBITDA, they will impact both net income and earnings per share.

Total interest expense decreased 19.6% to $65.6 million in 2015, from $81.5 million last year, due to the early redemption of our 11% senior notes earlier this year which were replaced by our new term B-3 loans, with an effective interest rate of 4.33% at December 31, 2015. Net income decreased 1.6% to $49.1 million in 2015, from $49.9 million last year, while diluted earnings per share remained flat when compared to last year, at $0.57 per share.

Turning to the balance sheet for a moment, we ended the fourth quarter with $19 million of cash and $15 million drawn on our resolving credit facility. Total long-term debt, including current maturities, was $1.6 billion. And our net leverage ratio at the end of the fourth quarter was 4.38 times adjusted EBITDA.

Based on our year-end leverage ratio, which is re-measured quarterly, at this time, we have $120 million of restricted payment capacity for 2016. And as Joel mentioned, we returned capital to shareholders in 2015, including paying $72 million in dividends and repurchasing 2.4 million shares at an average price of $18.62 per share. Leaving $190 million available for future repurchases under our Board-approved plan.

We are encouraged that we have seen a dramatic reduction in the decline of adjusted EBITDA year over year when compared to the 2013 to 2014 timeframe. This continued stabilization of the business is a critical first step to our ability to grow in the future. And even at these performance levels, we still returned more than $117 million in capital back to our shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases, while funding our CapEx needs with only a modest increase in our revolver borrowings at the end of 2015.

This is a testament to the strong free cash flow characteristics of our business. And as we look to continue to improve our business fundamentals, the opportunity for thoughtful and impactful capital allocation will only improve. Now, I would like to turn the call back to Joel.

Thanks a lot, Peter. I would like to close with three high-level thoughts for all of you. The first thought is, I feel we have the right plan. Our near-term priorities are clear. We're executing the strategy we outlined to you in November at the Analyst Day, with an intense focus on operational excellence and delivering the consistent and sustainable financial performance expected of our organization.

As a reminder, that plan is on our website. But I'll summarize it quickly at a high level. Number one, evolving the SeaWorld brand to be about experiences that matter. We know that families of the future, especially the millennials, want vacations with meaning. Nowhere else can consumers experience so much family fun and togetherness, while also making the world a better place for animals and their habitats.

Number two, distinct guest experiences. We're going to leverage our full pallet of hundreds of rides, shows, restaurants, shops and festivals, as well as 800 species of animals, to create a truly unique guest experience. Number three, organic and strategic revenue growth. I mentioned progress earlier on the Middle East project, as well as our resort strategy. And also stabilizing and hopefully then growing organically. Number four, we are dealing with our brand issues head-on. And finally, number five, financial discipline.

The second high-level thought is, we have the right people. We have new senior leadership throughout the Company, highly experienced leaders, with a good mix of executives from outside the Company to promote new thinking, but also internal promotions to demonstrate our bench strength and ability to promote excellence from within.

And the third thought: we're taking action. We are addressing our challenges and making the tough decisions that will allow us to focus on returning to consistent growth and enhanced shareholder values. I would like to close by thanking all of you for your ongoing support. We continue to stabilize and grow the Company.

And with that, I'll open up the call for questions.

Thank you.

(Operator Instructions)

Your first question comes from Tim Conder from Wells Fargo Securities. Your line is open.

Thank you. Joel and Peter, a couple of things. First, on the removal of the deepwater pool floors, Peter, you gave us what that's going to be an accelerated depreciation, one-time cost type of thing. But I would suspect there's some pretty decent costs associated with the ongoing operation of those floors. What type of savings can we expect from that?

And then on the 200 to 250 basis points of sort of corporate-level cost savings that you outlined on the prior call and at your Analyst Day, what type of timeframe could we see the realization of that also?

Sure. Good morning, Tim. With regard to the floors, the savings -- there is savings there, but it's not significant. It's fairly insignificant to the future.

On your second question, as we talked about back in November, this cost-reduction plan is probably a three-year plan. And you know, we have done a few things. Number one, this year, we have moved at the corporate level to zero-based budgeting, and we have a renewed focus on really thinking about how we spend our money. And we're going to be looking at, as well, at some lean opportunities for lean process improvement.

The one challenge, though, that we'll have, that we think is a good use of money, is the ongoing reputation campaign. My comments were that we believe it's worked in California. And so, that's a cost that we expect to have abate over time. But this year, we expect that to continue.

So that's what we're doing with regard to costs. A little bit, we have some good news on that, and that we're making headway at corporate, but also we have these other costs that we believe are well-spent.

Okay. And then, any more color you gentlemen can give us on the sequential trends in San Diego, whether attendance, revenue, adjusted EBITDA, third quarter, fourth quarter, on a year-over-year basis?

And then on the international comment that you made regarding Florida here, I think Tampa is pretty heavily skewed to locals, but Orlando is maybe your heaviest skewed to the international guests. Whether you want to comment Florida as a whole, or Orlando/Tampa separately, just remind us where 2015 ended as far as international guests versus US domestic guests in those parks?

Sure. Hey, Tim, it's Joel. I'll take a cut at that. California specifically, what we are willing to say is, we have seen a really strong improvement in the rate of decline of revenue in adjusted EBITDA. We were still slightly negative, but much less so in 2015 than 2014.

We have announced the addition of Ocean Explorer in 2017. We have not had really strong capital there in quite a while, so it will be nice to talk about something new. It's really a realm, not just a ride -- multiple aquariums, exciting rides and digital technologies to engage the park guests in really an experiential adventure of the ocean. That's coming in 2017. And then we are also looking at 2018 as well, but not prepared to make any announcements there.

So we feel like we're on the right track. And as Peter said, with our reputation spend, we do feel like that spending will continue. And then our theory is, it will decline over time, and that also will be part of the cost savings, to reiterate Peter's point.

On switching to Florida, you are right. Tampa does have less international mix than Orlando. And what we're doing is trying to adjust what we see coming out of Brazil. First of all, the common sense thing to do is, we're shifting some ad dollars into our drive in overnight markets for both Florida parks, because the demand is pretty strong there. We're seeing more promising results.

The US economy is still fairly robust, even with a stock market drop. But Brazil, we do see some issues there. So we're shifting our money where we can make more hay. And we're also introducing some strong promotions into the international markets. And we're also trying to really push our festival strategy, again, with driving overnight guests.

So I think the other thing that we have not mentioned so far that is important to know: our big rides that I mentioned in Mako and then Cobra's Curse, are not going to open until May or June. So we're going to see a little bit of shift. And that's why we were slightly cautious in our comments about the first quarter, is that the end of the second and the third quarter is when those rides are going to open, and we'll see the most bang in those quarters.

I want to make it clear though, that for the future, we are driving -- and part of Anthony's responsibility is to -- in creative -- is to pull our rides forward more into March timeframe, and have more discipline there. I don't like opening rides in June. But having said that, it's still the peak time of year. But that is why we'll make more hay in the end of the second, into the third quarter.

And Joel, sort of where the international mix versus domestic mix was -- any color on that?

In Orlando -- this is Peter, Tim -- in Orlando, it's obviously 15%. We disclosed publicly, 15% Company-wide. But I'll tell you that in Orlando, that percentage is higher. And clearly this time of year, with Orlando being a larger portion -- although it's a smaller quarter -- a larger portion of our revenue, the international visitor has a bigger impact.

Okay. Thank you, gentlemen.

Thanks, Tim.

Your next question comes from Felicia Hendrix from Barclays. Your line is open.

Hi, thank you so much. So as kind of a segue from part of Tim's question, it sounds like for the year and the cadence, you might be a little more weighted toward the middle of the year, just because you have the ride opening, which is going to have a big impact.

So regarding the first quarter, it's a smaller quarter, but it's a pretty tough comp. So you have the weather-related headwinds, but you do benefit from an early Easter. So just wondering, as we think about that, can the combination of those, plus just the initiatives that you are implementing -- they would be enough to drive growth in the first quarter?

Well, it's a good question, Felicia, and good to hear your voice. You are right. We have the negative headwinds we talked about. But we also do have the Easter shift into the first quarter, so that will offset. And then in the end of the second quarter, we have two coasters starting. So we aren't ready to say exactly how that plays out, but you are right in your analysis.

I think -- just to follow-up on Joel's comments -- we still have more of the first quarter, you know, to go. And we're hopeful that Easter does pull back in some of the softness we have seen. But again, it's too early to tell.

But the cadence, though, you make a great point on cadence. Softness early part of first quarter, Easter moves into first quarter and moves out of second quarter. But as Joel pointed out, the rides are new.

Impactful capital moves into second quarter. And then summer, the third quarter, really is the quarter that we believe will be -- should be obviously our strongest quarter, and should be strong given the capital.

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. And then just looking a little bit backyards regarding the results in the quarter, I'm curious about the cadence through the fourth quarter. Because when you reported earnings, it was the first week in November. But you came in at the low-end of guidance. So I was just wondering what happened in November and December?

Well, as we pointed out in that call, we felt pretty confident in where we would be revenue-wise. But we had some pressure on costs from legal expenses and some additional reputation spend, and it played out pretty much as we had predicted.

And adding to that, Texas -- as Joel pointed out, Texas did improve sequentially from the first half. But there was some embedded weakness there that occurred, particularly in season pass early in the year, that we thought might be a little bit more robust in the latter part of the fourth quarter, but it just didn't transpire. So it's mainly costs, but also a little bit continued softness in Texas.

I appreciate that, that's helpful. And just, last one. You guys, you know, definitely had nice free cash flow in the quarter. But if you just look at your cash balance, we're looking back and it looks like it's the lowest cash balance in the history of the Company. So I'm just wondering if you could talk about your balance sheet for a moment and get us comfortable with the $19 million?

Sure. Well, as we pointed out, we made share repurchases at the end of year, and financed all of our CapEx needs with a small increase in our revolving credit facility. In addition, because we drove $90 million in free cash flow, that $117 million required not only a draw on the revolver, but also the use of some cash -- plus or minus working capital changes, as you might expect.

We're keeping an eye on that, clearly. We want to be opportunistic about re-purchasing shares and returning capital to our shareholders. But we're keeping an eye on that. I think we're comfortable right now; we have adequate liquidity. But clearly, it's a great point to bring up, and something to look at.

And I'll add to that. It's something that Peter and I spend a lot of time on. We have a capital plan looking forward that is all within our free cash flow capabilities, at our current levels. We feel very good about that plan, and it entails continuing to do what we've been doing. So we are very focused on that issue.

So for our modeling purposes, what is your optimal year-end cash level that we should think about?

Well, it's been in the sort of $35 million to $45 million range. It was $43 million last year. I would say to you, given the fact that we expect this year -- obviously won't be providing guidance on this call -- that we would have a stronger year. Last year, $43 million. I might model between $25 million and $45 million, in that range.

Thank you so much.

Sure.

Our next question is from Barton Crockett from FBR Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Okay, great. Thanks for taking the question. I was wondering about the margin outlook. I know your goal for improvement is articulated over a few years. But as you look into this year, you are coming out of a fourth quarter where your margins went down. You've got some cost pressures.

Can you give us any sense that as you progress towards this goal, are you looking for costs to actually continue to go up in 2016? Or do you think there's any flattening out there we can see in the trend? That's one question.

Then the other question is on the international visitation. I was just curious if that's fallen off more coming into this year, or if you saw that in the fourth quarter? Because we look at some of the Orlando visitation data, and it would argue that there's still strong traffic internationally coming into the Orlando Airport -- and actually an uptick in visitation domestically. Is that a more recent development or were we seeing that last quarter?

Hi, Barton, it's Peter. On the costs and our margin expectations, clearly our goal this year is about is about one-third of the three-year goal -- so say 75 basis points. And as I mentioned, we do have some cost pressures that continue, and one of those being the reputation campaign. We don't want to be foolish about cutting that for the sake of driving margins.

So we're focusing our attention on, as I mentioned, on our corporate costs, and trying to find ways to reduce those costs. As I mentioned in November, we're hitting that now. Timing of that -- again, our goal is 75 basis points or so. So that's my sense right now.

We'll keep, obviously, you and others posted as we progress. But we think we have a good plan in place, a renewed focus. People are onboard, they understand what we're trying to do here, and I think we'll be successful.

On the international question, we did see a little of it in the fourth quarter. We knew that Brazil's currency -- I think their currency has deflated about 60% versus the US dollar. And so we anticipated that. It started in the fourth quarter, but it's a little bit more in the first quarter of this year.

Okay, great. That's helpful color. And particularly --

And remember the airport visitations too, do include -- definitely have all the -- this is a strong season, too, for convention business and so forth. But there's no doubt it also impacted our business.

Okay, all right. Thank you.

(Operator Instructions)

Your next question comes from Afua Ahwoi from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Thank you, good morning. Just a few questions from me. First on the Ocean Explorer attraction in San Diego, can you walk us through where you stand on the approval process? Do you have approval for that? And maybe while you're at it, can you give us an update on where the litigation stands as it relates to the Blue World?

And then I'm actually a little surprised on the comments on how much focus there is on the January results. So just curious, how big is January Q1 2015 results? And similarly, how big is Florida Q1 2015 as well? And I'll have some follow-ups after. Thanks.

Sure. Good to hear your voice, Afua. As far as the submission of the 2017 attraction for San Diego, that's been submitted to the Coastal Commission. And as you know, and we've talked about this before, we have a really good relationship with them. We have been working with them for 30 years there, and we don't anticipate any issues. It's right on time, from the approval process. So we don't have any news on it, but we don't anticipate any problems there.

As far as the lawsuit that we have with them, it's strictly on jurisdiction. And basically, as we have said before, with the Blue World project, we did not feel that they had the jurisdiction to weigh in on marine mammal management issues. It's really, to us, a development committee -- or a development commission. So that's what it's about. There's no status update on that at this point in time.

And then on your last point, the first quarter is our smallest quarter. It's about 15% of our business. So it is -- and we don't want to over-emphasize the point. I think the bigger point, the more important one, is really just that the coasters open in late May, early June, and it's going to drive a lot of performance into the second and third quarters. I think that's the more important point, so don't take that as over-exaggeration of any particular point there.

We feel really good about what we have coming in Florida, and the buzz on the ride is really good. And it's a very similar ride to what we have in Williamsburg, that is a home-run. So I anticipate it doing really well once it opens and people see it in the skyline. Literally, you can see it driving down International Boulevard, Highway 528 coming from the airport, and it's a beautiful-looking attraction.

Thank you. And just one follow-up from me. So we saw great attendance from your peers Six Flags, Cedar Fair, in the fourth quarter. So just curious as it relates to your parks, how much of the attendance growth we saw 1Q -- so that 1% or so we saw -- how much of that was from your regional parks, maybe Busch Gardens versus the SeaWorld-branded parks, if you can split that out, please?

Yes, Afua, Peter. We don't split it out. I think as we mentioned, to give you a sense, some clarity, we saw at our SeaWorld California sequential improvement in the second half. We saw continued softness, not as great a sequential improvement in Texas. And all the other parks performed pretty close to where we expected them to perform.

Okay, thank you.

Your next question comes from Scott Hamann from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Thanks, good morning. On the season pass and advance purchase commitments, I know that's been a pretty big focus, simplifying those programs. Can you give us a little bit of detail around what successes you might have had in the off-season moving into this operating season?

On what issue? You cut out.

Season pass.

Our strategy is to simplify our offerings, which, we're making progress, but as you know, this turn-around is going to take time. And we didn't have enough product, and we had reputation issues. So I think our language got pretty noisy out there. So we're trying to simplify our message.

And then also, as we market Fun Card versus season pass, always show that season pass is the best value, and market them at the same time, and try to improve the per caps that way. The per caps on season passes, and the total dollar volume on season pass, I should say, is substantially higher.

So those are things we're trying to move towards. And I would say we had some success in the messaging, and I think over time, we'll train our customers that way. But it does take time.

And Scott, just a couple clarifying points on the metrics, if you will. You will see when the K comes out tomorrow that deferred revenue is essentially flat. Last year, in fact, it had declined, and we had a pretty decent season-pass year last year.

And a couple of things. When you look at our peers, Cedar Fair, Six Flags, they're a very seasonal orientation, and we're a rolling 12-month orientation, number one. And number two, as Joel pointed out, our capital really comes to life in the late second quarter. So we feel good about it, as Joel said, but as you see those metrics, I just wanted to give you a little bit of color.

Yes, it's a very important point that he brings up. Our season passes, for all the competitors in Florida, it's a rolling 12 months. So with the coasters opening in May and June, that's when they will really buy the season pass -- unlike Six Flags and Cedar Fair, where it's a seasonal product and they sell heavily in the fall for the following calendar year. That's true for our Fun Card, but it's not true for the season pass. And that's because all the competition is that way. It's a very different factor.

Okay. And then just thinking about pricing for 2016, obviously you have some new capital. Is that where the emphasis on the pricing is going to be? And transitioning through that, how should we think about the balance between attendance and per caps in 2016?

Well, we definitely want to try to get price where we have good product. So in Florida, that's where we're hoping we can price. That's our plan, that's been our strategy so far. And then also in San Antonio, where we have Discovery Point and also the new waterpark opening up, or the new gate.

And again, I think it's going to be a good road forward, and that's our strategy and that's our plan. And from our experience, both Peter and mine, in the industry, it will play out that way. And that's been our strategy to-date.

Again, on the technical side, Joel pointed out that we'll have a separate gate in San Antonio. That will, as you know, put upward pressure on attendance, and likely dampen downward pressure on reported per capita. Obviously the goal and our expectation is to drive total revenue. So you should be aware of that, as a change from 2015.

Okay. And Peter, I know you are not really giving guidance today, but is there any sense you can give us on CapEx for 2016?

I think we'll do that in the first quarter. I think that's the best time to pull it all together at the same time. But I would say that when we met and spoke at the investor conference in November, you are not going to see a major difference from what we talked about there.

Okay, thank you.

Your next question comes from Alexia Quadrani from JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Good morning, guys. This is David Karnovsky on for Alexia.

Hi, David.

I have another question on Ocean Explorers, that's later for 2017. I want to make sure -- is there going to be any impact on your existing attractions in 2016 as these are built up?

Impact on which attraction? I missed his --

On your existing San Diego attractions, as Ocean Explorers is built up?

No. Right now, we have nothing being marketed in 2016, other than we have new festivals that we're adding there. So we have a very full festival pallet, which definitely helps drive season pass attendance.

In 2017, we're going to have Ocean Explorer, as well as the new Orca Encounter, which replaces the existing theatrical presentation we have there. So that will be two things we can market in 2017. And then 2018, we have not announced yet. Does that answer your question?

Yes, okay. And then I understand there were some weather issues that impacted Halloween at some of your parks in Q4. But just thinking longer term, can you talk about the potential to use holiday events to drive sales in Q4, and make the quarter a greater contributor to full-year profit?

We are a very strong believer in the festival strategy. We actually have incredibly good Halloween product throughout the Company. At Christmas, our Christmas and winter festivals, in some areas, are at their early stages. I really think we can have the best Christmas product in the country. I was there at Williamsburg last year, and I was incredibly impressed with it.

So I think we are already doing a really good job, so I wouldn't model in huge opportunities there. But it's definitely something we can continue to tweak, and get better and better as we go forward. And we definitely have very strong fall and winter attendance.

Okay, thanks a lot.

(Operator Instructions)

Your next question comes from James Hardiman from Wedbush. Your line is open.

Hi, this is Sean Wagner on for James Hardiman. I apologize if I missed it, but what was the overall benefit of cost savings in 2015 compared to 2014? And what is it expected to be in 2016?

Are you talking about our planned 200 to 250 basis point cost-reduction?

Yes.

Right. This is a program that we're initiating here in 2016. We think of it as a three-year plan, and I think cadence should be about even -- 75 or so basis points each year moving forward.

Now, understand there were cost-cutting programs that were initiated back in December of 2014 that had impact as well, into 2015. But this is really a focus on improving our margins through cost reduction.

And we really did -- he's referring to Project Chicago, which is what we call it, and it was a $50 million cost target. We did execute on that, but it was basically used up with our reputation spend, which we have been public about, in the $15 million-ish range. And then we also had labor cost increases, and then a few other of the legal expenses and things we spoke to in the fourth quarter. Frankly, it ate up that.

But we did execute on that. Without having done that, we would have been $50 million worse last year. And to step back from that broader, as Peter said, I think our thesis here is, we are seeing trends stabilizing. And we are seeing our reputation spending in California being focused and having some progress there. So our theory is that we'll be able to come down over time and be part of the margin improvement. Because that is incremental spend to our flat-out marketing of rides and attractions.

Okay. Along those lines, you mentioned that November and December results played out how you would have expected. Were legal expenses also in line with your expectations? And going forward, might they cut into any cost savings that you might see going forward? What are expectations, I guess, for legal expenses in 2016?

Once we revised guidance, they fell within those expectations. They weren't in line with what we started the year thinking. And that's why we, frankly -- part of the reason we revised guidance -- and achieved that. I think going forward for this year, from a marketing and legal and just the general cost levels we have, I think they will -- I would assume they are going to maintain at these levels.

But again, that's part of our theory as we're stabilizing both the business and our reputation. We do anticipate those coming down over time. But for this year I wouldn't put too much expectation into that decreasing dramatically. But we are making progress there.

We are, no question. And to follow up on Joel's comments, it's a highly regulated business, and we're cognizant of that. We do everything we can to keep those costs to a minimum. But they are real costs to us, and they are important that we incur them in the right areas.

Okay. And just real quick, is there any additional color you can give on the magnitude of any incremental revenue associated with your new advisory [say] of the Middle East partnership? And are there any other international opportunities still out there on the table?

I can't give any more color on it. It is not material. It's really, as I said in my comments, to cover our expenses. But it is a specific move, where it went from discussion to us getting expenses reimbursed as we move towards definitive agreements. And it's a significant step, but it's not material from a modeling standpoint.

And yes, we continue to look at other options. But our focus is the Middle East project, and building out or buying a resort around our domestic parks. So I don't want you to anticipate too many other international things, just because the organization -- the Middle East project alone is very substantial over time, and we can only focus on so many things.

Okay, great. Thanks a lot for the color.

Yes, thank you.

Your next question again comes from Tim Conder from Wells Fargo Securities. Your line is open.

Thank you. Joel, just your comments on the Middle East, I wanted to circle back to that. Six Flags had mentioned on their call that their Middle East project had been pushed back from late 2017, early 2018 start, to now 2019, I think, due to obvious political and budgetary turmoil going on there.

So the letter-of-intent, you said, was extended. Can you give us any color for the magnitude of fees, and then costs here? You said those had kind of offset. And then, what term is the letter-of-intent for?

Really, other than what I've already said on it, I wouldn't model it -- it's not material. It's really just a cost reimbursement. And we have not given any timeframe on when the park is going to open. I'm not willing to do that.

But part of the reason I'm very pleased with what happened in the last few weeks is because of the pressures in the Middle East, with oil prices and so forth, you would almost not expect this to happen, but we've already adjusted our build cost a little bit. We've got it more in line, and that's all moving forward in a proper pace.

And very pleased that, even given the oil price situation there, that we are still moving forward. So I appreciate you bringing that up.

Okay, thank you.

Your next question comes from Barton Crockett from FBR Capital Markets. Your line is open.

Okay. I just wanted to ask one follow-up on the Board transition that you mentioned for the Director. Is the new Director that you would be looking for someone that would be from Blackstone, or could it be from Blackstone or somewhere else?

Yes, it's a good question. Frankly, that would be a question you would have to ask Blackstone directly. And that -- I think we're still working through that. But the Governance Committee is certainly involved in this, and we're looking at candidates and all options at this point.

Okay. And then just one quick number question. What was your NOL balance at the end of the year?

Right around $675 million or so, which, we still believe that will take us, based on our modeling, through 2020, 2021.

Okay, great. And then on the tax question, Six Flags made a filing with the IRS to potentially convert to a real estate investment trust, to be grandfathered in under a rule change there. Would you guys do anything like that? Or is that basically off the table, in terms of your ability now with the rule change, to contempt something like that in the distant future?

The Company, even before I arrived, took a hard look at this, back in late 2014, early 2015. And given the -- a couple of things. Number one, did the Company want to become a REIT in a different corporate structure, different trading structure? And number two, the NOLs continue to be fairly hefty.

I can't tell you anything about Six Flags. I think they had a more dire need before they moved to a cash taxpayer. We did not file a PLR. A PLR is not really a placeholder, it's a fully developed fulsome plan. But no, we chose -- the organization with their advisors evaluated it, and chose and made the decision that the right move for us, given the hefty NOL, was to utilize that NOL. And then look at opportunities for tax efficiency over the next few years.

Okay. And then since the topic of Six has come up, one final, bigger kind of question here is, they pursued this business model -- it's vastly different from everyone else in terms of much more season pass, much more membership, much more attendance growth. They seem to be outperforming their industry peers in revenue growth from this.

Are there any lessons to be learned from that? Anything to be emulated that could potentially help your top line mirror more of what they have been doing, as you look ahead?

That's a good question. Look, I have a lot of respect for Six Flags. I think Jim Reid Anderson has done a tremendous job there. And yes, there are lessons we can learn. And also, Peter and I, our experience as well -- I definitively think the season pass focus is a good one.

We are already at pretty high levels though. I think we're at about -- not I think -- I know we're at about 40% at the Tampa parks -- I'm sorry, the Busch parks. And roughly 30%-ish -- 35% at the SeaWorld parks.

I do think Six Flags is probably coming from a lower base there. But having said that, we can also always learn from the good activities and good performance of our friends at Six Flags and Cedar Fair.

Okay. I think they said they exited with 56% of their attendance was season pass membership.

They have gone -- they are higher than us, I believe. And I think that's a lesson we can learn.

And I think Cedar has disclosed, they're at 40%. We're, as Joel pointed out, a blended 40%. So no question.

Okay, all right. Thanks a lot.

Yes.

At this time, I have no further questions. Thank you. I'll turn the call back over to the presenters for closing remarks.

Well, yes, I think -- I'm looking at my notes here. I think there is probably one thing I would add, if that's okay. We told the street and the world, I guess, in last July 2015, we had these allegations against our Company by PETA that there was a SeaWorld employee infiltrating our organization. So we announced an internal investigation. And we are posting something today on our website -- actually, our blog. So I thought maybe for -- just to be full disclosure about it, I would read what we're posting on our blog. Let me pull my notes here.

It says: our Board of Directors is taking steps to strengthen the Company's security and risk management policies and controls. They have directed management to end the practice in which certain employees pose as animal rights activists. This activity was undertaken in connection with efforts to maintain the safety and security of employees, customers and animals, in the face of credible threats.

The Board also has directed that management strengthen oversight and controls to guide operations and security practices. We have retained Free Group International Solutions, LLC, to evaluate current controls and develop new policies and standards to ensure best practices. All personnel matters pertaining to those involved have been handled internally. That said, Mr. McComb remains an employee of SeaWorld, and has returned to work at SeaWorld in a different department, and is no longer on administrative leave.

We recognize the need to ensure that all of our security and other activities align with our core values and ethical standards. As always, the security and well-being of our employees, customers and animals, remain at the forefront of our business practices. The report contains confidence business information related to the Company's security practices. Therefore, this will be the only statement we make on this.

So perhaps not a material issue, but I just wanted to, I think, for the effort of the what we're trying to be very transparent with you, that I didn't want that to be posted and have you guys think: why didn't we talk about it on the call? So just thought I would bring it up.

I don't have any other comments, other than, as I said in the opening comments, I feel like we have shown you all our plan in November. So we have the plan, I think we have the people -- we have made a lot of moves with people, a good mix of internal and external. And I think we have shown we can make difficult decisions. And it will be a bumpy road; it's not going to be a straight line. But I think we are making good progress, and I appreciate your-all's support.

Thank you, everyone. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.