US CRUISING giant Royal Caribbean Cruises has reported a 16% rise in net profit to $384m in 1999, despite experiencing a 3% drop in revenue to $2.5bn.
Chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain claimed the record profit figure had been achieved by focusing on yield management and cost control.
The slight decline in revenue was attributed to a 3% fall in ship capacity during the year. This resulted from the sale of its ship Song of America and service interruptions in the first half of the year.
The cruiseline operates 17 ships under its two brands,ÊRoyal Caribbean and Celebrity, the most recent of which, Voyager of the Seas, was launched last autumn. It has 10 more ships scheduled for delivery by the end of 2004.
n Royal Caribbean has agreed to pay the US state of Alaska $3.5m to settle a lawsuit stemming from waste-dumping incidents in 1994 and 1995.
It has also pledged not to discharge water from toilets, sinks or showers within three miles of Alaska’s coast.
The settlement brings the amount of pollution-linked penalties paid by the cruiseline to more than $30m over the past two years.