US cruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises increased net profit by 42 per cent in the second quarter, but revenue fell short of expectations.
According to a company press release, net income for the April-June period was $1.21bn, or $4.41 per share, compared with $854m, or $3.11 per share, for the same period a year earlier. Earnings excluding one-time factors climbed to $4.38 per share from $3.21.
Revenue rose 10% to $4.538bn, with ticket revenue up 11% to $3.2bn and onboard services and merchandise revenue up 9.5% to $1.34bn.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet on average forecasted adjusted earnings of $4.09 per share on revenue of $4.55bn.
Royal Caribbean carried more than 2.25 million passengers last quarter (+10.5%). The number of passenger-days (an indicator calculated by multiplying the number of passengers carried over a certain period by the number of days each of them spent on a cruise) increased by 5.8% to 12.94 million. Occupancy rose to 110.3% from 108.2% a year earlier.
The company expects third-quarter adjusted earnings in the range of $5.55 to $5.65 per share. Experts are forecasting $5.83 per paper, according to LSEG.
For 2025, Royal Caribbean now expects earnings of $15.41-15.55 per share, up from the previous estimate of $14.55-15.55. The consensus forecast calls for $15.48 per paper.
Royal Caribbean’s stock price is down 5.5 per cent in early trading on Tuesday. The operator’s capitalisation has soared by almost 53% (to $95.6bn) since the beginning of this year, while the S&P 500 stock index has added 8.6%.