OREANDA-NEWS. Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) has announced that it has declared a dividend of $0.35 per share, an increase of 17 percent.

"The increase in our quarterly dividend follows a 20 percent increase less than a year ago and reflects our sustained earnings improvement and growing net cash flow which is forecasted to reach $4.5 billion in 2016," said Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation & plc President and Chief Executive Officer.  "The increased dividend, in combination with our current share re-purchase program, underscores our commitment to return value to our shareholders."      

The company's board of directors approved a record date for the quarterly dividend of May 27, 2016, and a payment date of June 17, 2016.

Holders of Carnival Corporation common stock and Carnival plc ADSs will receive the dividend payable in U.S. dollars.  The dividend for Carnival plc ordinary shares will be payable in U.S. dollars or sterling.  In the absence of instructions or elections to the contrary, holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares will automatically receive the dividend in sterling. 

Dividends payable in sterling will be converted from U.S. dollars at the exchange rate quoted by the Bank of England in London at 12 noon on June 1, 2016.  Holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares wishing to receive their dividend in U.S. dollars or participate in the Carnival plc Dividend Reinvestment Plan must elect to do so by May 27, 2016.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest leisure travel company in the world, and among the most profitable and financially strong in the industry.  With a portfolio of 10 cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Line, Fathom, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard,  P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).

Together, these brands operate 100 ships visiting over 700 ports around the world and totaling 221,000 lower berths with 16 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2016 and 2020. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P500 and the FTSE 100 indices.