Arison steps down as Carnival chief as revenues fall
Carnival announced Micky Arison is to give up the role of chief executive following a difficult 18 months that started with the sinking of the Costa Concordia in January last year.
Arison, who has been CEO since 1979, will remain as chairman while long-time board member Arnold Donald will take over as chief executive on July 3.
"I have been discussing this with the board for some time now and feel the timing is right to align our company with corporate governance best practices and turn over the reins after 34 years as CEO," Arison said in a statement.
Arison, whose father founded the cruise line, will remain its largest shareholder.
The company today announced almost a three-fold increase in second-quarter profits, to $41 million, following the sale of the Noordam, a ship operated by Holland America, one of its cruise lines.
However, revenue fell 1.7% to $3.48 million and Carnival’s projected earnings for the current quarter will fall between $1.25 and $1.33 a share as prices and advanced bookings for the remainder of 2013 are down year on year, although fleet-wide bookings for the next three quarters are ahead of last year at higher prices, excluding Carnival Cruise Lines.
By Linsey McNeill, TravelMole UK
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