Cruise stocks slide after US commerce secretary Lutnick's comment on taxes
20/02/2025 18:29
(Updates)
** Shares of cruise operators fall, a day after U.S.
commerce secretary Howard Lutnick's comments on taxes
** "You ever see a cruise ship with an American flag on the
back? ... None of them pay taxes ... every supertanker. None pay
taxes ...," Lutnick said in an interview on Fox News on
Wednesday
** Cruise operators Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH.N ,
Carnival CCL.N and Royal Caribbean Group RCL.N down between
6% and 9%
** If losses hold, RCL set for worst day since September
2022
** Viking Holdings VIK.N down ~4%
** Initial reaction in the stocks is a knee-jerk
overreaction for a sector that has performed extremely well over
the past two years - Patrick Scholes, analyst with Truist
Securities
** Adds, should a tax be imposed, cruise companies might
pass on this cost to customers, choose to relocate some of their
ships to avoid U.S. port
** The commerce secretary also said President Donald
Trump wants to abolish the
Internal Revenue Service
(IRS)
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Anuja Bharat Mistry in
Bengaluru)
((Nikhil.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))