Royal Olympic Cruises Expects Cancellations to Affect Year End Results

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. reported that significant booking cancellations aboard its cruise vessels for the remainder of the year will adversely affect its final results for 2001. The cancellations follow the tragic attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001.

CEO of Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, Yiannos Pantazis, stated, "A large number of the passengers travelling with us in September and October are from the United States and unfortunately, since September 11, many have chosen not to travel abroad. The cancelled bookings will have a serious negative impact on the fourth quarter and, consequently, the year-end numbers will show a higher loss than previously expected. Although it is too early to give a clear indication of the full financial effect of this, we expect net losses before any gain/loss on financial instruments in the range of $0.70 to $0.85 per share.

"Prior to September 11, Royal Olympic Cruise Lines was enjoying a successful summer season. Our fourth quarter bookings were strong and we were expecting this to be reflected in our year-end results. We have worked hard to present some of the most interesting destination cruise packages in the cruise business and will continue to work hard to rebound from the current situation, by adapting our fleet utilization and identifying immediate cost savings."