Carnival Cruise Lines, the US focused contemporary market brand in the Carnival Corp & plc group, underperforms other brands of the group in terms of booking levels, while on the group level, yields are forecast to fall 3% in 2013 year on and by about the same amount early next year, Carnival said in a statement.
At this time, cumulative advance bookings for the remainder of 2013 and the first half of 2014 are behind the prior year at prices in line with prior year levels. “Since June, fleetwide booking volumes for the next three quarters, excluding Carnival Cruise Lines, are running in line with the prior year at higher prices. Booking volumes for Carnival Cruise Lines during the same period are running behind the prior year at lower prices< Carnival said.
Arnold W. Donald, group ceo noted: "During the past few months, Carnival Cruise Lines has seen a steady improvement in brand perception among U.S. consumers based on national market research data." He added that Carnival Cruise Lines continues to undertake a variety of brand building initiatives including a major travel agent outreach program which commenced in June, the introduction of a new vacation guarantee earlier this month and the launch of a new major marketing campaign that debuted yesterday with national TV spots airing on network primetime programming.”
The company expects full year 2013 net revenue yields, on a constant dollar basis to be down approximately 3% compared to the prior year, toward the lower end of the June guidance range due in part to ongoing geopolitical events in portions of the Eastern Mediterranean region. Excluding fuel and impairments, the company expects full year net cruise costs per ALBD to be higher by 4 percent compared to the prior year on a constant dollar basis, which is at the better end of the June guidance range. In addition, higher fuel prices are expected to reduce full year 2013 earnings by $0.04 per share compared to June guidance.
Taking the above factors into consideration, the company forecasts full year 2013 non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.51 to $1.57, the mid-point of which is in line with June guidance.
For the first half of 2014, we presently estimate revenue yields will be down in a range similar to the back half of 2013. For the full year 2014, net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD are expected to be up in a range similar to 2013.
