Carnival forecasts strong yield rise, but warns of strong dollar

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 27 March 2015 27 March 2015

Carnival Corp & plc, the Anglo-American cruise shipping giant, says it expects yields to rise much more than anticipated in December, but warns that a firmer dollar will have a negative impact.

Based on current booking strength, the company expects full year 2015 net revenue yields to increase 3% to 4% on a constant currency basis, which excludes translation and transactional currency impacts, compared to the prior year. "This is one full (percentage) point better than December guidance on a constant currency basis," Carnival said.

On a constant dollar basis, which does not exclude the unfavourable transactional impact of currency, the company still expects yields to be approximately 2% higher than the prior year. The company expects net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for full year 2015 to be up 2% to 3% percent compared to the prior year on a constant dollar basis, which is better than December guidance of up 3% due primarily to the favorable transactional currency impact.

Since December, unfavourable changes in currency exchange rates (constant currency) have reduced full year 2015 earnings expectations by $219 million, or $0.28 per share. However, this impact has been significantly offset by the improvement in the company’s operating performance, resulting in just a $0.05 reduction to the midpoint of December guidance.

Taking the above factors into consideration, the company forecasts full year 2015 non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.30 to $2.50, compared to 2014 non-GAAP diluted earnings of $1.93 per share.

Looking forward, Donald stated, “Consistent with many global companies, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar has hampered our full year earnings expectations, masking the 3% to 4% (constant currency) yield increase our collective brands are expecting to achieve. Our successful initiatives to drive both ticket and onboard revenue yields have improved our financial performance and we remain on track toward our goal of achieving double-digit return on invested capital in the next three to four years.”

Carnival reports strong first quarter as Carnival Cruise Line and Costa in Asia shine

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 27 March 2015 27 March 2015

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise shipping group, has reported strong figures for the first quarter of its financial year as yields rose markedly, driven by the group's US focused Carnival Cruise Line contemporary market brand and Costa Crociere;s Asian business.

Group net profit in three months to 28 February amounted to $49 million, compared to a loss of $20 million in the same period a year earlier. Operating profit (EBIT) rose to $266 million from $67 million, although revenues declined to $3.53 billion from $3.58 billion.

President and Chief Executive Officer Arnold Donald noted in a statement: "The year is off to a strong start achieving significantly higher earnings than the prior year and our previous guidance. Our onboard revenue initiatives drove particularly strong improvement in the first quarter with onboard yields more than 8% higher than prior year (constant dollar).”

Donald also noted that the Carnival Cruise Line brand continued to outperform, achieving significant revenue yield growth and remains on track for a strong year. Additionally, Costa’s Asia operations achieved double-digit revenue yield growth, affirming the pent-up demand in the region and building confidence in the long-term potential for growth.

Key metrics for the first quarter 2015 compared to first quarter 2014 were as follows:

On a constant dollar basis, net revenue yields (net revenue per available lower berth day or “ALBD”) increased 2.0% for 1Q 2015, which was better than the company’s December guidance of flat to up 1.0%. Gross revenue yields decreased 3.1% in current dollars due to changes in currency exchange rates.

Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD increased 2.4% in constantdollars primarily due to higher dry-dock costs and advertising expenses. Costs were lower than December guidance, up 5.5% to 6.5%, substantially all due to the timing of expenses between quarters. "Gross cruise costs including fuel per ALBD in current dollars declined 9.6% due to changes in fuel prices and currency exchange rates," the company said.

Fuel prices declined 38% to $406 per metric ton for 1Q 2015 from $654 per metric ton in 1Q 2014.
Fuel consumption per ALBD decreased 3.7% in 1Q 2015 compared to the prior year.
Changes in currency exchange rates reduced earnings by $0.06 per share (constant currency).