Shares in Carnival plc, the UK domiciled and listed holding company in the Carnival Corporation & plc group, hit a 52 week low in early London trade on both industry specific and general economic woes.

The shares traded 2.8% down at 798.60 pence some 50 m minutes after opening of the market. Their previous closing low had been 842p. Shares are traded in pence, not  pounds and pence, on the London market, where the FTSE100 index of leading shares was down about 1.1% at the same time.

Concern has been mounting about possible downward pressure on ticket prices at the same time as the cruise industry is grappling with rising cost of fuel and food plus supply chain and crewing problems.

Inflation in the US hit a multi year high of 8.6% in May according to figures released on Friday. Cruise industry observers fear that rising cost of living would negatively affect the demand for cruises.