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隨著郵輪業(yè)仍在經(jīng)受新冠疫情和休閑旅游停擺造成的重創(chuàng),世界最大的郵輪公司正在流失海量現(xiàn)金。
總部位于巴拿馬的嘉年華公司于上周四表示,在截至5月31日的季度中,該公司虧損44億美元,其中包括因?yàn)槌鍪鄄糠粥]輪而造成的20億美元虧損。由于嘉年華幾乎所有的業(yè)務(wù)自3月以來(lái)一直陷于停頓,該公司僅錄得收入7億美元,較去年同期的48億美元暴跌85%。
但痛苦還遠(yuǎn)未結(jié)束。嘉年華表示,盡管該公司計(jì)劃加快出售更多的巨型漂浮酒店,但在2020年的剩余時(shí)間里,其每月平均虧損額預(yù)計(jì)仍將高達(dá)6.5億美元。據(jù)分析師估計(jì),嘉年華此前每個(gè)月大約虧損5億美元。
郵輪公司是最早感受到全球新冠疫情影響的行業(yè)之一,并因?yàn)閼?yīng)對(duì)遲緩而飽受批評(píng)。而嘉年華旗下的“至尊公主號(hào)”和“鉆石公主號(hào)”更是成為新冠疫情早期爆發(fā)的中心?,F(xiàn)在,這家旗下運(yùn)營(yíng)品牌包括“公主郵輪”、“荷美郵輪”和同名品牌的業(yè)界領(lǐng)頭羊正面臨乘客訴訟。此外,美國(guó)眾議院也在調(diào)查嘉年華在新冠危機(jī)爆發(fā)早期的應(yīng)對(duì)舉措。
雪上加霜的是,嘉年華及其主要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手均被排除在聯(lián)邦政府為拯救美國(guó)企業(yè)而推出的經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激計(jì)劃之外。盡管主要郵輪運(yùn)營(yíng)商的總部都設(shè)在邁阿密,但從技術(shù)上講,它們皆是海外注冊(cè)公司。這種長(zhǎng)期存在的安排,有助于郵輪公司的大部分利潤(rùn)免繳美國(guó)聯(lián)邦所得稅。
嘉年華的首席執(zhí)行官阿諾德?唐納德在4月重申了繼續(xù)在海外注冊(cè)的意向。但如今,他正在手忙腳亂地尋找其他融資渠道:該公司已經(jīng)通過(guò)債務(wù)和股票籌集了66億美元,用完了33億美元的周轉(zhuǎn)信貸額度,推遲償付其他債務(wù),并且正在出售資產(chǎn)。嘉年華在上周四表示,已經(jīng)就未來(lái)90天再出售6艘郵輪達(dá)成初步協(xié)議,并計(jì)劃出售更多的郵輪和非郵輪資產(chǎn)。另?yè)?jù)該公司透露,截至5月底,它還有76億美元的可用流動(dòng)性。
截至2019財(cái)年末,嘉年華旗下共有104艘郵輪,另有17艘計(jì)劃到2025年底全部交付的郵輪訂單,其中一些將用來(lái)替代現(xiàn)役船舶。(該公司在上周四表示,4艘原計(jì)劃在10月前建造完成的郵輪預(yù)計(jì)將推遲交付。)
在游客能夠重新登船之前,這些措施或許有助于嘉年華維持生計(jì),盡管現(xiàn)在越來(lái)越不清楚那將是什么時(shí)候。嘉年華此前宣布有望在8月1日復(fù)航,但唐納德最近不再抱有這種希望。
他上周接受旅游網(wǎng)站The Points Guy采訪時(shí)表示:“我希望給你一個(gè)具體日期,但我們做不到,因?yàn)檫@本質(zhì)上是一個(gè)監(jiān)管問(wèn)題?!?
美國(guó)疾控中心在4月將郵輪“禁航令”延長(zhǎng)到至少7月24日。但業(yè)內(nèi)人士認(rèn)為監(jiān)管當(dāng)局很可能會(huì)進(jìn)一步推遲復(fù)航時(shí)間。挪威郵輪控股公司在上周表示,10月前不會(huì)恢復(fù)郵輪運(yùn)營(yíng)。
在上周四的財(cái)報(bào)電話會(huì)議上,嘉年華并沒(méi)有明確回應(yīng)此前所做的8月1日復(fù)航預(yù)測(cè),只是表示該公司“無(wú)法確切預(yù)測(cè)何時(shí)恢復(fù)正常運(yùn)營(yíng)?!?
與此同時(shí),嘉年華旗下郵輪也并非完全沒(méi)有乘客,無(wú)論他們多么不情愿。新冠疫情導(dǎo)致的停航,致使8萬(wàn)多名員工滯留在大海上,直到他們可以被遣返回國(guó)。
所有郵輪公司的員工都報(bào)告稱,被困在海上郵輪的日子非常不好過(guò),有些人還感染了新冠病毒。據(jù)《邁阿密先驅(qū)報(bào)》報(bào)道,截至5月中旬,有超過(guò)578名船員在海上感染了新冠肺炎,其中7人死亡;據(jù)說(shuō)還有人自殺身亡。
嘉年華在上周四宣稱,已經(jīng)通過(guò)船舶或包機(jī)等方式將大約6萬(wàn)名郵輪員工遣返回130多個(gè)國(guó)家。另有2.1萬(wàn)名員工將在6月底前被遣返回國(guó)。嘉年華補(bǔ)充說(shuō),公司正在“密切關(guān)注這些長(zhǎng)期滯留在船上的員工的身心健康?!?
該公司采取的措施包括讓員工接觸到“新鮮空氣,并進(jìn)入船上的其他區(qū)域,”并為他們提供電影、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和心理咨詢服務(wù)。嘉年華“還為大多數(shù)船員提供了單人艙住宿,其中許多艙位都配有一扇窗戶或陽(yáng)臺(tái)。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:任文科
隨著郵輪業(yè)仍在經(jīng)受新冠疫情和休閑旅游停擺造成的重創(chuàng),世界最大的郵輪公司正在流失海量現(xiàn)金。
總部位于巴拿馬的嘉年華公司于上周四表示,在截至5月31日的季度中,該公司虧損44億美元,其中包括因?yàn)槌鍪鄄糠粥]輪而造成的20億美元虧損。由于嘉年華幾乎所有的業(yè)務(wù)自3月以來(lái)一直陷于停頓,該公司僅錄得收入7億美元,較去年同期的48億美元暴跌85%。
但痛苦還遠(yuǎn)未結(jié)束。嘉年華表示,盡管該公司計(jì)劃加快出售更多的巨型漂浮酒店,但在2020年的剩余時(shí)間里,其每月平均虧損額預(yù)計(jì)仍將高達(dá)6.5億美元。據(jù)分析師估計(jì),嘉年華此前每個(gè)月大約虧損5億美元。
郵輪公司是最早感受到全球新冠疫情影響的行業(yè)之一,并因?yàn)閼?yīng)對(duì)遲緩而飽受批評(píng)。而嘉年華旗下的“至尊公主號(hào)”和“鉆石公主號(hào)”更是成為新冠疫情早期爆發(fā)的中心?,F(xiàn)在,這家旗下運(yùn)營(yíng)品牌包括“公主郵輪”、“荷美郵輪”和同名品牌的業(yè)界領(lǐng)頭羊正面臨乘客訴訟。此外,美國(guó)眾議院也在調(diào)查嘉年華在新冠危機(jī)爆發(fā)早期的應(yīng)對(duì)舉措。
雪上加霜的是,嘉年華及其主要競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手均被排除在聯(lián)邦政府為拯救美國(guó)企業(yè)而推出的經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激計(jì)劃之外。盡管主要郵輪運(yùn)營(yíng)商的總部都設(shè)在邁阿密,但從技術(shù)上講,它們皆是海外注冊(cè)公司。這種長(zhǎng)期存在的安排,有助于郵輪公司的大部分利潤(rùn)免繳美國(guó)聯(lián)邦所得稅。
嘉年華的首席執(zhí)行官阿諾德?唐納德在4月重申了繼續(xù)在海外注冊(cè)的意向。但如今,他正在手忙腳亂地尋找其他融資渠道:該公司已經(jīng)通過(guò)債務(wù)和股票籌集了66億美元,用完了33億美元的周轉(zhuǎn)信貸額度,推遲償付其他債務(wù),并且正在出售資產(chǎn)。嘉年華在上周四表示,已經(jīng)就未來(lái)90天再出售6艘郵輪達(dá)成初步協(xié)議,并計(jì)劃出售更多的郵輪和非郵輪資產(chǎn)。另?yè)?jù)該公司透露,截至5月底,它還有76億美元的可用流動(dòng)性。
截至2019財(cái)年末,嘉年華旗下共有104艘郵輪,另有17艘計(jì)劃到2025年底全部交付的郵輪訂單,其中一些將用來(lái)替代現(xiàn)役船舶。(該公司在上周四表示,4艘原計(jì)劃在10月前建造完成的郵輪預(yù)計(jì)將推遲交付。)
在游客能夠重新登船之前,這些措施或許有助于嘉年華維持生計(jì),盡管現(xiàn)在越來(lái)越不清楚那將是什么時(shí)候。嘉年華此前宣布有望在8月1日復(fù)航,但唐納德最近不再抱有這種希望。
他上周接受旅游網(wǎng)站The Points Guy采訪時(shí)表示:“我希望給你一個(gè)具體日期,但我們做不到,因?yàn)檫@本質(zhì)上是一個(gè)監(jiān)管問(wèn)題?!?
美國(guó)疾控中心在4月將郵輪“禁航令”延長(zhǎng)到至少7月24日。但業(yè)內(nèi)人士認(rèn)為監(jiān)管當(dāng)局很可能會(huì)進(jìn)一步推遲復(fù)航時(shí)間。挪威郵輪控股公司在上周表示,10月前不會(huì)恢復(fù)郵輪運(yùn)營(yíng)。
在上周四的財(cái)報(bào)電話會(huì)議上,嘉年華并沒(méi)有明確回應(yīng)此前所做的8月1日復(fù)航預(yù)測(cè),只是表示該公司“無(wú)法確切預(yù)測(cè)何時(shí)恢復(fù)正常運(yùn)營(yíng)?!?
與此同時(shí),嘉年華旗下郵輪也并非完全沒(méi)有乘客,無(wú)論他們多么不情愿。新冠疫情導(dǎo)致的停航,致使8萬(wàn)多名員工滯留在大海上,直到他們可以被遣返回國(guó)。
所有郵輪公司的員工都報(bào)告稱,被困在海上郵輪的日子非常不好過(guò),有些人還感染了新冠病毒。據(jù)《邁阿密先驅(qū)報(bào)》報(bào)道,截至5月中旬,有超過(guò)578名船員在海上感染了新冠肺炎,其中7人死亡;據(jù)說(shuō)還有人自殺身亡。
嘉年華在上周四宣稱,已經(jīng)通過(guò)船舶或包機(jī)等方式將大約6萬(wàn)名郵輪員工遣返回130多個(gè)國(guó)家。另有2.1萬(wàn)名員工將在6月底前被遣返回國(guó)。嘉年華補(bǔ)充說(shuō),公司正在“密切關(guān)注這些長(zhǎng)期滯留在船上的員工的身心健康。”
該公司采取的措施包括讓員工接觸到“新鮮空氣,并進(jìn)入船上的其他區(qū)域,”并為他們提供電影、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和心理咨詢服務(wù)。嘉年華“還為大多數(shù)船員提供了單人艙住宿,其中許多艙位都配有一扇窗戶或陽(yáng)臺(tái)?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:任文科
As the pandemic and its near-total shutdown of leisure travel continues to ravage the cruise industry, the world’s largest cruise company is leaking floods of cash.
Carnival Corp. lost $4.4 billion in the quarter ended May 31, including a $2 billion loss from selling off some of its cruise ships, the Panama-based company said last Thursday. With almost all of its operations on hold since March, the company eked out $700 million in revenue—an 85% plummet from $4.8 billion a year earlier.
But the pain is far from over: Even as the company plans to accelerate the sales of more of its enormous floating hotels, Carnival says it expects to burn an average of $650 million per month for the rest of 2020. It previously was burning about $500 million every month, according to analyst estimates.
Cruise companies were some of the earliest businesses to feel the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic—and to draw widespread criticism for their lumbering response to it. Carnival, which operates Princess Cruises as well as Holland America and its eponymous brand, was at the center of early COVID-19 outbreaks on its Grand Princess and Diamond Princess ships. Now the company is facing passenger lawsuits and a U.S. House of Representatives probe into its handling of the early crisis.
Compounding their financial pain, Carnival and its top competitors were also left out of the U.S. federal stimulus package designed to throw American businesses a lifeline. While the major cruise operators all have headquarters in Miami, they are technically incorporated overseas, in a long-standing arrangement that allows them to avoid paying U.S. federal income tax on most of their profits.
Carnival CEO Arnold Donald in April reaffirmed his company’s intention to remain incorporated abroad. But now he is scrambling for other financing: His company has raised $6.6 billion in debt and stock, completely tapped its $3 billion revolving credit facility, deferred other debt payments, and is selling off assets. Carnival said last Thursday that it has preliminary agreements to sell another six ships in the next 90 days, and is working to sell more ships and non-ship assets. The company says it had $7.6 billion of available liquidity by the end of May.
Carnival had 104 ships in its fleet at the end of its 2019 fiscal year, with 17 additional ships, including planned replacements for existing vessels, on order through 2025. (The company said last Thursday that it expects delays in the delivery of four of those ships, which previously had been scheduled to be constructed before October.)
Those measures may help Carnival stay afloat until passengers are able to reboard its ships—although it has become increasingly unclear when that will be. While the company had previously said it might resume some cruises on Aug. 1, Donald has backed away from that hope in recent days.
“I wish I could give you a date, but we can’t, because it’s a regulatory matter,” Donald told travel website The Points Guy in an interview last week.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April extended a “no-sail” order for cruise ships through at least July 24. But industry members seem to anticipate further regulatory delays; last week, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said it would not resume cruise operations before October.
On last Thursday, Carnival did not specifically address its previous Aug. 1 prediction, but said it “is unable to definitively predict when it will return to normal operations.”
In the meantime, Carnival ships aren’t entirely without passengers, however unwilling they may be. The pandemic-related shutdown of cruising stranded more than 80,000 Carnival employees at sea, on board ships, until they could be repatriated to their home countries.
Employees across all cruise companies have reported grim and sometimes COVID-infected conditions while they have been trapped at sea. By mid-May, more than 578 crew members had contracted COVID-19 at sea, and seven had died, the Miami Herald reported; others have reportedly died by suicide.
On last Thursday, Carnival said it had repatriated approximately 60,000 cruise-ship employees to more than 130 countries, either by sailing them home or by chartering flights. Another 21,000 employees will be repatriated by the end of June, according to Carnival, which added that it is “focusing on the physical and mental health” of employees “experiencing extended stays on board.”
That includes giving employees access to “fresh air and other areas of the ship,” as well as movies, Internet, and counseling services. The company also said it is “providing most shipboard team members with single occupancy cabin accommodations, many with a window or balcony.”