Royal Caribbean reports bigger-than-expected loss on virus hit

(Reuters) – Royal Caribbean Group reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Monday, as the cruise operator suffered from a coronavirus-driven halt to sailings that is now on course to last deep into the second half of 2020.

The company’s shares, which have lost over 60% of their value this year, fell nearly 2% in premarket trading.

Royal Caribbean, which dropped “Cruises” from its corporate name last month, expects to burn $250 million to $290 million of cash on average per month, while its operations are suspended during one of the industry’s worst periods in history.

Royal Caribbean, which has pledged dozens of ships to raise billions of dollars of new debt, said it had about $4.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of June.

Net loss attributable to the company was $1.64 billion, or $7.83 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, after also writing down the value of certain assets by $156.5 million.

On an adjusted basis, Royal Caribbean lost $6.13 per share, while analysts had expected a loss of $4.82 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)