Carnival beats estimates, outlook sinks
Carnival Corp. & Plc. said Tuesday first-quarter profit rose 10% on lower fuel costs and higher bookings, handily beating analyst estimates and sending shares of the world’s largest cruise ship operator up 1.2%.
While the company cut its full-year outlook, citing deteriorating economic conditions in the United States and Britain, the new estimate was in line with analyst estimates.
The Miami-based company posted a net profit for the fiscal first quarter ended Feb. 28 of $260 million, or 33 cents per share, up from $236 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.
This exceeded analysts’ forecasts of 19 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. Carnival (CCL) stock jumped to $23.58. Shares of its main rival, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) , were down 3% at $8.60.
Still Carnival’s net revenue fell to $2.9 billion, down from last year’s $3.2 billion, as lower fuel costs failed to offset a drawback in consumer demand.
Since the start of the year, booking volumes for the remaining three quarters are 10% ahead of the prior year, but at "significantly lower prices," the company said. Cumulative advance bookings for the remainder of the year are still behind last year’s levels paydayloans.com.
Carnival expects second-quarter earnings to be in the range of 30 to 32 cents per share, down from the 49 cents a year earlier, but still in line with Wall Street expectations.
The company said it now forecasts full-year 2009 earnings per share to be in the range of $2.10 to $2.30, down from its previous forecast of $2.25 to $2.75.
Carnival said it has 16 ships under construction to be delivered through 2012 for about $9 billion, the majority of which is expected to be funded by cash from operations.
In an effort to preserve cash, both Carnival and Royal Caribbean stopped paying dividends last November.
The company said it would need to obtain new financing this year, but it will look for "low-cost opportunities to enhance its liquidity."
"To enable us to overcome challenges in these difficult times, we have focused on maintaining tight cost controls and a strong liquidity position," Carnival Chief Executive Micky Arison said in a statement.