Finnish cruise ferry owner Viking Line has torn up the profit guidance it gave last week as the coronavirus hits its business.
It said in a profit warning on Wednesday: "As a result of the coronavirus (Covid-19), operating conditions in our markets have deteriorated significantly.
"It is still too soon to quantify the impact on results since there is great uncertainty regarding developments. Therefore, our earlier business performance outlook no longer applies."
The company had said in its annual results that it expected stable passenger numbers and higher sales per guest.
It had put in place fixed-price agreements for some of its bunkers, mitigating the risk of increased bunker costs.
Regarding the virus, it had said: "Competition is still tough in Viking Line’s markets, where operating conditions are affected by squeezed prices and volumes. There is a risk that economic growth in the Asian market will come to a standstill due to the coronavirus."
It was at that point expecting operating income for 2020 to be on a par with 2019.
The Jan Hanses-led owner of seven cruise ferries posted $6.6m in net profit, against $8.8m during 2018.
Revenue came in at $496m, down slightly from $498m the previous year. Expenses declined to $479m from $499m.
Hanses said: "We have had considerable success in reversing a downward trend. The work to develop our organisation, which we began in 2018, has been successful."
Viking Line paid out a shareholder dividend of €0.45 ($0.51) per share for 2019, up from a €0.20 payout for the prior year.
The company’s market capitalisation was €205m on 31 December 2019.
