According to Bloomberg, swelling losses are behind the Metropolitan Opera's decision to raise $100m via the sale of bonds at the end of this week.
Losses from operations grew 7 percent last season to $135 million, the third consecutive increase. At the same time, operating revenue fell to $170.2 million, an 8 percent drop.
The news gets worse. Box office for the first four months of 2012-13 is down on last season.
The bond issue will be used to repay $63.2 million in loans from Bank of America Corp and to cover operating needs. The Bloomberg article also highlights the the threat of unfunded pension obligations (= projected future pension payments not covered by the Met's pension fund itself).
The bonds are expected to be sold to institutional investors such as pension funds and insurance companies.
