MIAMI — Carnival Corp. says cumulative forward bookings for the next three quarters are in line with the prior year, at higher prices, continuing the cruise company’s record booking streak.
Strong operational results coupled with sustained strength in booking trends have mitigated the impact from unfavorable fuel costs and currency fluctuations, says President and CEO Arnold Donald.
Based on current booking trends, the company now expects full year 2018 net revenue yields in constant currency to be up approximately 3% compared to the prior year, better than March guidance of up approximately 2.5%.
Changes in fuel prices and currency exchange rates are expected to decrease earnings by $0.19 per share compared to March guidance and $0.13 per share compared to the prior year.
The company expects full year 2018 adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $4.15 to $4.25 compared to 2017 adjusted earnings per share of $3.82.
“We delivered another strong quarter, again achieving record adjusted earnings on record revenues and exceeding the high end of our guidance range,” said Donald. “Strong operational execution drove a 30% increase in adjusted earnings affirming the strength of our core strategy to create demand that outpaces measured capacity growth through outstanding guest experience efforts coupled with innovative actions to increase consideration for cruising across all global markets.”
Carnival Corp.’s Q2 adjusted net income was US$489 million, up from $378 million in Q2 2017. Revenues for the quarter were $4.4 billion, higher than the $3.9 billion in the prior year.
Highlights from the second quarter included the delivery of Carnival Cruise Line’s 26th ship, Carnival Horizon, in March 2018. In April 2018 Seabourn took delivery of its fifth all-suite ship, Seabourn Ovation. Carnival is also doing big business in Cuba. As a result of the strong guest response to sailings to Cuba, Carnival received approval for more than 20 additional calls, bringing the total to 40 calls to Cuba in 2019, departing from home ports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Charleston.
