Carnival Corporation & plc Reports Near Doubling Of Adjusted First Quarter Earnings

OREANDA-NEWS. Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) announced adjusted net income of $301 million, or $0.39 diluted earnings per share, for the first quarter of 2016 compared to adjusted net income for the first quarter of 2015 of $159 million, or $0.20 diluted earnings per share. For the first quarter of 2016, U.S. GAAP net income was $142 million, or $0.18 diluted earnings per share, which included unrealized losses on fuel derivatives and other net charges of $159 million. For the first quarter of 2015, U.S. GAAP net income was $49 million, or $0.06 diluted earnings per share.  Revenues for the first quarter of 2016 were $3.7 billion compared to $3.5 billion in the prior year.

Carnival Corporation & plc President and Chief Executive Officer Arnold Donald noted, "Our teams delivered another strong quarter of operational improvement by creating increased demand for our brands and leveraging our scale which resulted in revenue yield improvement approaching 6 percent and the near doubling of first quarter adjusted earnings. We thank our millions of loyal guests and valued travel professional partners around the globe for their patronage and support."

Key metrics for the first quarter 2016 compared to first quarter 2015 were as follows:

• Net revenue yields (net revenue per available lower berth day or "ALBD") increased 5.7 percent in constant currency, which was better than the company's December guidance of up 3.5 to 4.5 percent. Gross revenue yields decreased 0.4 percent in current dollars due to changes in currency exchange rates.
• Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD increased 1.6 percent in constant currency and were lower than December guidance, up 2.5 to 3.5 percent, due to the timing of expenses between quarters. Gross cruise costs including fuel per ALBD in current dollars decreased 6.0 percent due to changes in fuel prices and currency exchange rates.
• Changes in fuel prices (including fuel derivatives), net of changes in currency exchange rates, increased earnings by $0.03 per share.

The company's Germany-based AIDA brand recently took delivery of AIDAprima with a wide array of innovative and remarkable guest experiences. In the coming days, Holland America's new flagship Koningsdam will also be delivered boasting new groundbreaking experiences especially in entertainment.  Other new ship deliveries scheduled for 2016 include Carnival Vista in late April and Seabourn Encore in November.  In addition, P&O Cruises (Australia) recently announced that Pacific Pearl will leave the fleet in April 2017, consistent with the company's long-term strategy of removing less efficient ships from its fleet as new capacity is introduced.

Last week marked a historic day for Carnival Corporation when the company became the first U.S. based cruise operator in more than 50 years to be granted approval from Cuba to sail there.  The company's newest brand, Fathom, will begin seven-day cruises to Cuba in early May onboard the 700-passenger Adonia initially visiting Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.

2016 Outlook 

At this time, cumulative advance bookings for the remainder of 2016 are well ahead of the prior year at slightly higher prices. Since January, booking volumes for the remainder of the year are running ahead of last year's historically high levels at higher prices.

Donald noted, "Our ongoing guest experience innovations coupled with our increasingly effective marketing and communication efforts have driven additional demand for our brands, resulting in a strong booked position. The lower levels of inventory remaining for sale for the balance of the year, particularly for our peak summer period, positions our brands well for continued revenue yield growth and builds confidence in our full year earnings forecast."

"Additionally, the underlying strength of our operating performance, leading to sustained earnings and cash flow growth, has accelerated the return of capital to shareholders through our stepped up share repurchase program. Since resuming the share repurchase program, we have bought back approximately 27 million shares returning $1.3 billion to shareholders in the last six months," Donald added.

On a constant currency basis, compared to the prior year, the company continues to expect full year 2016 net revenue yields to increase approximately 3 percent and net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for full year 2016 to be up approximately 2 percent.

Based on current booking strength, the company forecasts full year 2016 adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $3.20 to $3.40, compared to December guidance of $3.10 to $3.40 and 2015 adjusted earnings of $2.70 per share.

Second Quarter 2016 Outlook 

Second quarter constant currency net revenue yields are expected to increase 1.5 to 2.5 percent compared to the prior year. Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for the second quarter are expected to be up 0.5 to 1.5 percent on a constant currency basis compared to the prior year.

Based on the above factors, the company expects adjusted earnings for the second quarter 2016 to be in the range of $0.34 to $0.38 per share compared to 2015 adjusted earnings of $0.25 per share.

Selected Key Forecast Metrics

 

Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results

Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc and their respective subsidiaries are referred to collectively in this release as "Carnival Corporation & plc," "our," "us" and "we." Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions with respect to us, including some statements concerning future results, outlooks, plans, goals and other events which have not yet occurred. These statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our business and the industry in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. We have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by using words like "will," "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "depends," "expect," "goal," "anticipate," "forecast," "project," "future," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "target," "indicate" and similar expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms.