RCCL more than doubles quarterly dividend, appoints lead director
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 12 September 2013 12 September 2013
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping group, says its board of directors had named its first lead director, approved a plan to replace staggered terms for directors with annual election, and more than doubled the quarterly dividend on its common shares.
The moves, which were approved unanimously at the board’s 11 September meeting, reflect the board’s continuing efforts to enhance its corporate governance structure and drive long-term value creation for its shareholders, the company said in a statement.
The quarterly cash dividend to was increased to $0.25 per common share, payable 8 October to shareholders of record 24 September. The previous level was $0.12 per common share.
“Dividends are an increasingly important component of total shareholder return. This dividend increase was made possible by our profitability improvement program and our improving financial position. It reflects our confidence in our ability to grow our investment returns into the future, given strengthening results and modest capacity growth,” RCCL chairman and ceo Richard Fain said in the statement.
The board elected William L. Kimsey as its lead director. Mr. Kimsey, who is the former chief executive officer of Ernst & Young Global, Ltd., has served on the board since 2003 and is Chairman of the company’s Audit Committee. Kimsey also serves on the board of directors of Accenture PLC and Western Digital Corporation.
As lead director, he will be the liaison between the board’s non-management members and Fain. He will preside at meetings of the non-management directors, will advise and approve the content and scheduling of board meetings and discussions, and will be available for discussion with major shareholders.
Said Fain: “I’m delighted that Bill Kimsey has agreed to become our lead director. He’s been a consistent source of wise counsel, and his voice will be even more important as we move forward.”
Said Kimsey: “I am pleased by the steps our board has taken to further enhance our corporate governance, and I look forward to working with my fellow directors and management to improve shareholder value.”
The board of directors also adopted changes to its bylaws as a result of which candidates elected to the board will serve one-year terms, and will stand for re-election annually thereafter, effective with the slate of directors to be elected at the company’s 2014 annual meeting. This implements a proposal adopted by shareholders at the company’s May 2013 annual meeting.
Today’s actions demonstrate the company’s commitment to continuous improvement in its corporate governance practices following the 2011 termination of the Shareholders’ Agreement between Royal Caribbean’s two largest shareholders, A. Wilhelmsen & Co and Cruise Associates. Under that agreement, the two groups exercised effective control of the company, with key decisions – including the selection of directors, the choice of top management, and the approval of major capital expenditures – made at the discretion of the two shareholders.
“The board’s decisions affirm our focus on robust corporate governance. These steps are a sensible progression forward from our earlier governance structure,” said Tom Pritzker, chairman of the company’s nominating and corporate governance committee.
Brazilian cruise market suffers hard as economy slows down
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 09 September 2013 09 September 2013
The Brazilian cruise market is suffering hard in tandem with slowdown of the country’s economy that until recently fired on all cylinders on raw materials boom.
The number of cruise vessels expected to operate from Brazilian ports will fall to 11 in the 2013/14 season, a sharp reduction from 15 in 2012/13, 17 ships in 2011/12 and 20 vessels in the 2010/11 season, says CLIA Abremar, the cruise industry organisation in South America’s largest country.
The latest reduction in deployments came last month, when Iberocruceros said its Grand Mistral would not operate from Brazilian ports in the coming Austral summer season; instead the vessel would be transferred to the Costa Crociere group, another member of the Carnival Corp & plc group.
In August, Finance Minister Guido Mantega reduced 2013 growth targets to 2.5% from an already reduced 3.0%, and for 2014 down to 4.0% from 4.5%. The country’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 9% from 8.5%, also last month, to fight inflation that currently runs at 6.1% per annum. The real lost a fight of its value against the dollar from the beginning of the year to the end of August as the country’s raw materials export led economy cooled, the BBC reports.
Most of the cruises from Brazilian ports are between three and nine nights in duration and there will be 27 departures fewer in the coming season than a year before. By contrast, the Argentine market is expected to grow by a quarter in the coming season and MSC Poesia and Grand Celebreation will only operate from Buenos Aires during their forthcoming South America seasons, CLIA Abremar said.
Carnival commits over $180 million to install exhaust gas cleaning systems on 32 ships
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 05 September 2013 05 September 2013
Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, today announced it has received the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Coast Guard and Transport Canada to implement a significant advancement in environmental technology designed to reduce air emissions from cruise ships and large marine vessels.
As part of today’s announcement, Carnival has committed over $180 million for exhaust gas cleaning technology on 32 ships. These include vessels from Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Cunard that sail regularly within the North American Emission Control Area (ECA).
"This is a significant accomplishment as well as an important milestone for our company," said Carnival Corporation & plc CEO Arnold Donald. "Working together with the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard and Transport Canada, we have developed a breakthrough solution for cleaner air that will set a new course in environmental protection for years to come."
Carnival has been a partner in the development of this technology and will take the lead in further refining both design and installation aspects on ships with a variety of engine configurations between now and mid-2016. This new generation of so-called “scrubber technology” combines the removal of sulfur with the substantial reduction of particulate matter and black carbon. Once the exhaust gas cleaning technology is installed and fully operational on the various Carnival subsidiary ships, they will exceed ECA standards. The International Maritime Organization’s MARPOL Annex VI places a cap on sulfur within ECAs at 1.0%, which took effect in North America in 2012. In 2015, the limit will be 0.1%.
Carnival’s design combines two established technologies, which have been successfully used in power plants, factories and vehicles to clean – or scrub – the exhaust from high-sulfur fuel. For the first time this combination is being developed to accommodate restricted spaces on existing ships.
In addition to exceeding stricter air emission standards – a significant public health advancement – Carnival’s technology will help the company mitigate escalating fuel costs. The agreement in principle from the EPA and Coast Guard would enable an exemption for Carnival to use the fuel source that makes the most sense from an environmental and economic perspective. The agreement in principle is a requirement for the flag states of each Carnival subsidiary to grant permission for implementation.
The implementation also produces an immediate significant public health benefit, as all of the ships that will have the scrubber technology installed will use either low-sulfur marine gas oil or shore power when in ports in the United States and Canada. Ships that use shore power turn off diesel engines and connect to local electric utility power.
As a next step, Carnival will be requesting permits from flag states to allow for the trial of the exhaust gas cleaning technology to proceed.
Looking ahead, Carnival plans to explore the possibility of expanding the installation of its scrubber technology beyond the initial 32 ships.
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