MIAMI — Itinerary changes and cancellations forced by the recent hurricanes are expected to result in an estimated US$0.10 to $0.12 per share reduction in Carnival Corporation & plc’s fourth quarter earnings, however President & CEO Arnold Donald says cumulative bookings for the first half of 2018 are “well ahead” of 2017 on both price and occupancy.
“Our record results, coupled with strong booking trends, have more than offset the anticipated earnings impact from these weather disruptions, enabling us to raise the mid-point of our guidance and positioning us to achieve the higher end of our previous earnings guidance range,” said Donald. “Our performance affirms conviction in our company’s inherent ability to deliver sustained double digit return on invested capital in 2018 and beyond. We remain on track to achieve record cash from operations of $5 billion this year, and to continue to distribute cash to shareholders through steadily increasing dividends, currently totaling $1.2 billion annually, and opportunistic share repurchases, which are approaching $3 billion cumulatively over the past two years.”
Carnival Corp.’s Q3 net income is US$1.3 billion, versus $1.4 billion in Q3 2016, while adjusted net income was up from 1.4 billion to $1.7 billion.
The corporation’s Q3 revenues totalled $5.5 billion, higher than the $5.1 billion in 2016.
“We delivered another consecutive quarter of strong operational improvement and another third quarter adjusted earnings record,” said Donald. “Our ongoing efforts to create demand well in excess of measured supply growth helped to drive 5% higher cruise ticket pricing.”
Donald added, “After the earthquakes in Mexico and a very challenging series of hurricanes, our thoughts are with all of those impacted and we are actively contributing to the relief and rebuilding efforts in the Caribbean and the southern U.S. through monetary and other support. Many people throughout these areas have been impacted and several ports are temporarily unavailable. Fortunately, our owned destinations including Amber Cove, D.R.; Cozumel, Mexico; Mahogany Bay, Honduras; Half Moon Cay and Princess Cays, Bahamas, as well as more than 40 other ports, plus all those in Mexico, are fully operational and welcoming guests.”
