Hurtigruten has released preliminary accounts that show a pre-tax loss of NOK 224 million for 2007, compared to a loss of NOK 62 million for the year before. Total revenues were NOK 3.8 billion for 2007, compared to NOK 3.7 billion for 2006. Operating costs were NOK 3.4 billion for 2007, up from NOK 3.2 billion in 2006. CEO Olav Fjell said in a prepared statement that the improvements that have been implemented since the 2006 merger (of the two companies that previously shared ownership in Hurtigruten) have been insufficient and that more far-reaching changes are necessary to make the company profitable. "Our ambition is to limit the loss to NOK 50 million in 2008 and to deliver a profit the year after that," Fjell said.