P&O, parent company to Princess Cruises, has announced that its cruise division posted operating profits of $105 million for the first six months of 1996, compared to $75 million during the same period last year. (P&O does not release revenues or net income for its separate divisions.)

P&O’s cruise division includes both the nine-ship Princess Cruises and the three-ship P&O Cruises serving the British market.

Peter Ratcliffe, President of Princess Cruises, said that the load factor was around 100 percent across the fleet.

Ratcliffe also attributed the rise in profit to a full six months of operations of the new Sun Princess and the Oriana.

P&O announced net income of $150 million on revenues of about $5 billion for all of its divisions for the first six months of 1996, compared to net income of $134 million on revenues of $4.5 billion for the same period in 1995.