Finance Friday Part I: RCI’s Q3 Earnings

And they were surprising!

For Q3

Revenue of $2.1 Billion [17% increase from last year]

Net Income of $356.8 million [55% increase from last year]

Net Cruise Costs were down(a good thing) 2.3% and omitting fuel expenses, they were down 2.8%

As a result, upon announcing these numbers that were above their prior guidance, their stock price was at an all time high of $40/share.

Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO:

“We continue to characterize demand for our brands as steady and solid and the strength of our third quarter results is certainly a validation of that profitability momentum moving into 2011 is also quite strong with our newest vessels performing exceptionally well and our management team controlling costs very effectively.  The economy is still tough, but even facing such headwinds our outlook is remarkably encouraging.”