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Carnival says Europe hinders yield growth, sees 2013 EPS $1.80 to $2.10

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 March 2013 15 March 2013

Carnival Corp & plc chairman and ceo Micky Arison says that booking volumes during our seasonally strong wave period have remained solid with pricing comparisons improving in recent weeks. “However, economic uncertainty in Europe continues to hinder yield growth,” he said in a statement.

Arison added: “Despite considerable attention surrounding the Carnival Triumph, we had been encouraged to see booking volumes for Carnival Cruise Lines recover significantly in recent weeks. Attractive pricing promotions, combined with strong support from the travel agent community and consumers who recognize the company’s well-established reputation and quality product offering, were driving the strong booking volumes.”

The company expects net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for 2013 to be up 2.5 to 3.5 percent on a constant dollar basis compared to up 1 to 2 percent in the December guidance. The change in cost guidance is due to the impact of repair costs, as previously announced, as well as, expenses related to the enhancement of vessels in the remainder of the fleet as a result of the ship incident.

Taking the above factors into consideration, the company forecasts full year 2013 non- GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) to be in the range of $1.80 to $2.10, compared to 2012 non- GAAP diluted earnings of $1.88 per share.

Looking forward, Arison stated, “Our long term business fundamentals remain strong as we broaden our customer base of new and repeat cruisers through attractive product offerings, high satisfaction levels and compelling value propositions. We expect to drive return on invested capital higher through a measured pace of capacity growth and a continued focus on fuelconsumption savings. We continue to expect over $3 billion of cash from operations this year and remain committed to returning free cash flow to shareholders in 2013 and beyond.”

Carnival Corp & plc lowers full year revenue yield guidance to flat

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 March 2013 15 March 2013

Carnival Corp & plc says it now expects full year net revenue yields, on a constant dollar basis to be in line with the prior year compared to up 1 to 2 percent in the December guidance.

“The change in net yields is due to the economic uncertainty in Europe and pricing promotions for the Carnival brand combined with less than expected growth in onboard revenue across the group. The company also expects net revenue yields on a current dollar basis to be flat for the full year,” Carnival said in a statement.

Carnival reports $37 million first quarter net profit

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 15 March 2013 15 March 2013

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping group, reported net profit of $37 million for the three months to the end of February compared to a loss of $137 million in the same period a year earlier.

Total revenues rose slightly, to $3.59 billion from $3.58 billion, while ticket income dropped a fraction, to $2.74 billion from $2.76 billion. On board revenue rose to $844 million from $809 million, while tour sales remained unchanged at $9 million.

Micky Arison, chairman and ceo  noted that first quarter earnings were better than December guidance due to the timing of certain expenses partially offset by $0.02 per share resulting from voyage disruptions and related repair costs.

Key metrics for the first quarter 2013 compared to the prior year were as follows:

On a constant dollar basis, net revenue yields (net revenue per available lower berth day or “ALBD”) decreased 2.3 percent for 1Q 2013, which was in line with the company’s December guidance, down 2 to 3 percent. Gross revenue yields decreased 3.4 percent in current dollars.

 Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD decreased 3.1 percent in constant dollars, which was better than December guidance, down 1.5 to 2.5 percent primarily due to the timing of certain expenses. Gross cruise costs including fuel per ALBD in current dollars decreased 5.5 percent.

Fuel prices decreased 4 percent to $677 per metric ton for 1Q 2013 from $707 per metric ton in 1Q 2012 and were in line with the December guidance of $674 per metric ton.

Fuel consumption per ALBD decreased 5 percent in 1Q 2013 compared to the prior year.

The company repurchased 2.3 million shares valued at $87 million during fiscal 2013.

UPDATE -Power system problem delays Carnival Dream in St Maarten

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 14 March 2013 14 March 2013

Update – Carnival Cruise Lines has decided to repatriate passengers on the 2009 built Carnival Dream by air after the ship has suffered technical problems while in St Maarten, Cruise Critic reports on its website. The next cruise of the 3,646 passenger ship has also been cancelled.

 Carnival Dream remains docked in St. Maarten's Great Bay while personnel continue to work on the technical issue. The line said it is making arrangements to fly passengers home via private charter flights and scheduled flights from St. Maarten. Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen told Cruise Critic the line doesn't anticipate issues repatriating passengers sailing without passports. "We are currently interfacing with St. Maarten and U.S. authorities to work through that."

"We have had multiple conversations with the ship's management team. Based on the ship's service logs and extensive physical monitoring of all public areas, including restrooms, throughout the night, we can confirm that only one public restroom was taken offline for cleaning based on toilet overflow and there was a total of one request for cleaning of a guest cabin bathroom. Aside from that there have been no reports of issues on board with overflowing toilets or sewage. The toilet system had periodic interruptions yesterday evening and was fully restored at approximately 12.30 a.m." he said.

 

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A problem with its power supply system has forced Carnival Cruise Line’s 3,646 passenger capacity Carnival Dream to stay in St Maarten, where the issue is being dealth with.

The company  have posted the following message on their Facebook page: "The Carnival Dream has a technical issue which our engineering team is currently working on. The ship is at dock in St. Maarten. At no time did the ship lose power but there were periodic interruptions to elevators and toilets for a few hours last night. However at this time all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12.30am. The ship has full power but is still at dock while personnel continue to work on the technical issue."

A member of Cruise Critic.com posted the following on a board of the site: “We were to leave St Martin at 5 yesterday and now at 3 am, we are still here in port. At first, no toilets or elevators. Those back on but "mechanical " issues. No updates since 9 pm. We are supposed to be at sea today and Friday to make it back to Canaveral by Sat morning. As a fellow cruise critic member and know how excited I was this week last time, and have friends boarding this sat also, thought you guys may want to keep an eye out on carnival site and webcam to see if we are moving. We are more than 10 hrs behind schedule at this point."