<p>CHICAGO (AP) -- Shares of cruise line companies sank Wednesday after Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. told investors it lost a worse-than-expected $35 million in the second quarter and lowered its outlook.</p>
<p>Stifel Nicolaus &amp; Co. analyst Steven Wieczynski said the company's announcement that swine flu could cut as much as 27 cents per share from profits for the year showed a more severe impact from the virus than expected.</p>
<p>That sent shares of the Miami-based company down $2.45, or 15 percent, to $13.94 in midday trading.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, shares of competitor Carnival Corp. dipped $1.25, or 4.4 percent, to $27.18.</p>
<p>Royal Caribbean said its second-quarter loss amounted 16 cents per share. That compares with a profit of $84.7 million, or 40 cents per share, during the same period last year.</p>
<p>Revenue fell 15 percent to $1.35 billion from $1.58 billion a year ago</p>
<p>Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a loss of 13 cents per share on revenue of $1.36 billion.</p>
<p>The swine flu virus hurt earnings by 5 cents in the quarter and was expected to cut results by 18 cents per share in the third quarter and 27 cents per share for the year.</p>
<p>The company also said it expected to earn between 70 and 80 cents for the year, down from its previous estimate of $1.35 per share profit.</p>