SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:SEAS) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Marc Swanson: Yes. What I would tell you is we obviously believe our pass products offer a great value, and we’ve been able to get the higher pricing that you heard Jim talk about in his comments. And when we’re able to invest in the business like we’ve been doing with new rides and attractions and events and refreshed venues, those type of things, that just makes that, I think, that value even more apparent for pass holders. So I’m confident we can continue to drive higher admissions per caps through our pricing. And I think we’ve demonstrated that over the last several quarters. And look, there can be a trade-off, as you noted, between pass and single-day ticket. I mean, really, we’re targeting the total revenue equation overall. But even within that equation, I think we’re optimistic we can continue to grow pricing and ultimately grow per caps.

Operator: And the next question comes from Michael Swartz with SunTrust.

Michael Swartz: I just wanted to start off and maybe a follow-up on CapEx. Your CapEx plans, I think you said $250 million to $300 million for 2023, which is the — that’s the highest amount since at least you’ve been public. But maybe talk about the ROI piece of that, which is, I think, what’s being stepped up meaningfully. And I know you’re generating a lot more cash now. But is this a structurally higher level of ROI spending going forward? Or is this a timing element? And then how do we think about the ROI profile of some of the things you’re investing in, in ’23 and beyond maybe to prior years?

Marc Swanson: Yes. I can start, and then if Jim wants to say anything, he can. Look, I think we guided you to the core number is going to be in that $150 million to $180 million range. And then again, we’re taking advantage of the cash flow generation that we are generating and using that to deploy to other ROI projects in our parks. And as you can imagine, I mean, that — we’re not going to target ROIs in the single digits or things like that. These are going to be returns that we would feel good about spending the cash on. So look, I don’t know that it’s permanent. I mean in a sense, it would be permanent if we continue to find more ROI opportunities, we’re going to continue to go after them. But at some point, you probably do reach a point where you’ve done all you can do or those things start to slow down a little bit.

But I think as long as there’s continued opportunities to drive ROI, whether it’s refreshed venues, technology enhancements, efficiency efforts, aesthetic reasons, we will pursue those.

James Forrester: Yes. The only thing I would add, Marc, is we started these back in 2020 and 2021, we do a couple of facilities, all the improvements that resulted from those in food and beverage. And use those to realize that we had a lot of opportunity, especially in our food and beverage operation. You’ll see also the first 100% guest exit flow at the Accessory park being installed this year. So we learn from that opportunity in the first of our parks and others like it, some efficiency projects to reduce utilities and continue to, again, figure out where we can be more efficient, reduce our labor costs from some of these implementations and continue to see if this is the right amount going forward to achieve those revenue and cost-of-savings targets.

Michael Swartz: Okay. Great. And I think you laid out about $50 million in identified cost savings for that illustrative example. And I think in the past, you were talking about $30 million to $50 million, if I remember correctly. Maybe what’s driving that delta? Is that incremental projects? Is that certain things just firming up relative to the prior range that you gave?