Carnival time as cruise operator beats forecasts and sees booking trends lift

Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise operator, has reported a rise in fourth-quarter profits, helped by strong booking volumes and efforts to reduce fuel costs.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Dec 2010, 20:25 BST
Updated 21st Dec 2010, 20:25 BST

The group issued a 2011 forecast that exceeded most Wall Street analysts' estimates.

The cruise operator forecast 2011 earnings per share of between $2.90 and $3.10 for the fiscal year 2011.

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The average analyst forecast is $2.92 in earnings per share.

"Booking trends have continued to improve for both our North American and European brands, particularly for our peak summer season," chief executive officer Micky Arison said.

Miami-based Carnival reported fourth-quarter net income of $248m, or 31 cents a diluted share, up from $193m, or 24 cents a share, in the previous year's quarter.

The average analyst estimate for Carnival's results was 31 cents a share.

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Quarterly revenue for the period to the end of November rose 6.6 per cent to $3.5bn, beating analyst forecasts of $3.36bn.

Net revenue yields rose 3.9 per cent in the quarter on a constant dollar basis, beating the company's forecast of a 2.5 to 3.5 per cent increase.

Yields are a measure of profitability in the sector, based on the amount of revenue derived from each unit of capacity.

Carnival Corporation is a global cruise company and one of the largest vacation companies in the world.

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Its portfolio of leading cruise brands includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn in North America.

In the UK, it owns P&O Cruises and Cunard Line.

In Germany, it owns AIDA and it also has the Costa Cruises brand in Southern Europe, Iberocruceros in Spain and P&O Cruises in Australia.

The brands, which include the most recognised cruise brands in North America, the UK, Germany and Italy, offer a wide range of holidays to a customer base that is broadly varied in terms of cultures, languages and leisure-time preferences.

It also owns a tour company that complements its cruise operations: Holland America Princess, Alaska Tours in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Combined, its vacation companies attract 8.5 million holidaymakers annually.

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