Moody's: SeaWorld outlook to positive

Moody's Investors Service said it changed the outlook for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc. to positive from stable.

The B1 corporate family rating and Ba3 debt ratings were affirmed.

The company was also assigned a speculative grade liquidity rating of SGL-2.

Moody's said the positive outlook reflects the improvement in leverage from 4.9x in FY 2012 to 4.2x as of FY 2013 and the expectation for further modest leverage improvements over the next year.

The reduction in the ownership interest of the private equity sponsor, Blackstone, to less than 25% is also a positive and reduces, but does not eliminate, the potential for large debt funded equity friendly transactions. The agency said it expects the firm to generate higher revenue and EBITDA in 2014 due to price increases and reduced discounted promotions as well as stable to modest attendance gains.

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