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Royal Caribbean Group reports $5.8 billion annual loss

Royal Caribbean Group has reported a net loss of $5.8 billion for the 2020 financial year, a $7.7 billion swing from 2019 when it reported a net profit of $1.9 billion.

The company, which operates brands including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea Cruises and, until recently, Azamara Club Cruises, implemented a voluntary suspension of cruises on March 13, 2020, which has been extended for most of its fleet until April 30 at the earliest.

Losses in the fourth quarter were $1.4 billion, against a net profit last year of $273.1 million. On January 29, the group announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its three-ship Azamara brand for $201 million.

Richard Fain, the company’s chief executive, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic is having a painful and profound impact on our world and our business; unquestionably, this crisis is the most difficult in the company’s history.

“But we have been impressed and grateful for the resourcefulness and agility of our team in responding to these unprecedented challenges. More importantly, we remain confident about the ability of our Company to recover and return to the positive trajectory we were on previously.

He added: “We are encouraged to see the sharp decline in cases and the growing availability of vaccines. We can’t wait to get back to the business of showing people the world and making great memories.”

Jason Liberty, chief financial officer, said: “These results reflect the staggering impact that the pandemic brought to our company and the whole industry during 2020. I want to thank all our teams who have risen to the occasion, managing through the toughest year in Royal Caribbean’s history.”

During 2020, the group raised approximately $9.3 billion of new capital through a combination of bond issuances, common stock public offerings and other loan facilities.

As of December 31, 2020, it had liquidity of approximately $4.4 billion, including $3.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents and a $0.7 billion commitment from a 364-day facility. It estimates its cash burn to be approximately $250 million to $290 million per month during the suspension of operations.

The company said it continued to work with the Healthy Sail Panel, a collaborative effort designed to create an environment for cruises to resume safely.

It also said it continued to develop plans to meet the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for US sailings and said “many uncertainties” around specifics of the return meant a phased restart would be implemented across its fleet.

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