Carnival Corporation & plc, the Anglo-American cruise shipping giant, says it has reported its strongest quarter ever as net income in the three months to 31 August rose to $1.42 billion from $1.22 billion in the same period last year, while revenues rose to $5.09 billion from $4.88 billion.
In the first nine months of its financial year, the profit increased to $2.17 billion from $1.49 billion as revenues rose to $12.45 billion from $12.00 billion.
Arnold Donald, President and Chief Executive Officer noted in a statement: "We delivered the strongest quarterly earnings in our company's history affirming our ongoing efforts to expand consumer demand in excess of measured capacity increases and leverage our industry leading scale. Revenues during the peak summer season were bolstered by strong performances from both our North American and European brands and across all major deployments including the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe."
Key metrics for the third quarter 2016 compared to the prior year were as follows: Gross revenue yields (revenue per available lower berth day or "ALBD") increased 0.6% . Net revenue yields on a constant currency basis increased 2.7% for the third quarter, toward the top end of the June guidance range of up 2% to 3%
Gross cruise costs including fuel per ALBD decreased 0.2%. Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD on a constant currency basis increased 5.5%, better than June guidance of up 6% to 7%, due to the timing of certain expenses.
Changes in fuel prices (including realised fuel derivatives) and changes in currency exchange rates increased earnings by $0.02 per share, the company said in the statement.
