Ongoing deep discounts on cruises and slower bookings by cash-strapped travelers combined to drag down Carnival Corp.’s fourth-quarter profit by 48 percent, the cruise line said Friday. A weak forecast from the company for its first quarter combined with the news to cut into Carnival’s shares Friday. “Pricing for cruises still hasn’t recovered as much as we would like,” Howard Frank, Carnival’s chief operating officer, told investors during a conference call Friday. “And perhaps that’s a reflection of the uncertain economic picture for 2010.”
Ford to speed up debt repayments
Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally says the automaker plans to speed up its debt repayment as its financial condition continues to improve. Mulally also told reporters at a briefing Friday on its new vehicles that Ford will keep its advantage over Chrysler and General Motors next year. Ford has gained sales and market share while its Detroit competitors were forced to take government aid and go through bankruptcy protection. Ford has about $27 billion in debt. Mulally says the company repaid $10 billion this year and plans to sell $1.6 billion worth of stock. He says the automaker will accelerate payments as it continues to move toward profitability in 2011.
GM pays $1.2 billion for government aid
General Motors Co. made the first payment on its giant installment loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments on Friday, sending $1 billion to the U.S. Treasury and $192 million to Canada. The company plans to repay both governments in full by the end of June, but Chairman and acting CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. said in a statement that repayment is contingent on no downturns in the economy or GM’s business. GM owes the U.S. government a total of $52 billion, with $6.7 billion of that in loans. At least part of the remaining $45.3 billion could be repaid when GM sells stock, perhaps late next year. The U.S. government currently owns about 61 percent of the troubled Detroit automaker in exchange for putting up money that to keep the company afloat.
Video watchdog closes its doors
The Institute on Media and the Family, a news fixture founded by David Walsh, is closing its doors, a victim of the poor economy. When Walsh assembled his first report card on video game violence 13 years ago, children were attacking on-screen monsters or aliens with imaginary chain saws and guns. There will be no holiday report this year and Walsh plans to shut down Dec. 23. He takes pride in what he was able to accomplish for children against a powerful industry. “Ten years ago, a kid 10 years old could walk into any store in America and buy an ultra-violent, adult-rated game. That’s no longer true,” said Walsh.
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