Royal Caribbean misses revenue estimates as Omicron, Ukraine crisis hamper demand
2022.05.05 15:56
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Royal Caribbean logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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(Reuters) – Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) Group on Thursday missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue, as a resurgence in COVID-19 infections in some parts of the world and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hampered people’s travel plans.
Shares of Royal Caribbean Group fell about 1% in pre-market trading even as the company said booking volumes in March and April were significantly higher compared to the same period in 2019.
The omicron variant of coronavirus that has been a cause of concern globally has forced people to reassess their travel decisions with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking people at one point to avoid cruise travel due to reports of COVID-19 outbreaks on cruises.
However, in March CDC removed its COVID-19 notice against cruise travel almost two years after introducing a warning scale.
In March, Royal Caribbean Group joined rivals Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Holdings Ltd and Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Corp in canceling sailings to Russia and said it was removing Russian port city St. Petersburg from its upcoming itineraries.
The cruise operator’s revenue rose to $1.06 billion in the first quarter from $42.01 million a year earlier, but missed analysts’ average estimate of $1.15 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
