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Strong booking trends help Carnival ride storms and earthquakes
Strong booking trends have offset the impact of the Mexico earthquakes and hurricanes in the Caribbean for Carnival Corporation.
The cruise giant, whose brands include P&O, Cunard, Costa, Holland America Line and Princess Cruises, said cumulative bookings for the first half of next year are ‘well ahead’ of the previous year in terms of both price and occupancy.
It gave a trading update as it reported a rise in profits for the three months to August 31 to $1.7 billion, compared to $1.4 billion in the same quarter in 2016.
Revenues over the same period rose from $5.1 billion to $5.5 billion.
President and chief executive Arnold Donald sad: “After the earthquakes in Mexico and a very challenging series of hurricanes, our thoughts are with all of those impacted and we are actively contributing to the relief and rebuilding efforts in the Caribbean and the southern U.S. through monetary and other support.
"Many people throughout these areas have been impacted and several ports are temporarily unavailable."
He said the group’s owned destinations, as well as more than 40 other ports, plus all those in Mexico, are fully operational and welcoming guests.
But he said several temporary port closures associated with the storms led to voyage disruptions which are expected to result in an estimated $0.10 to $0.12 per share reduction in earnings in the fourth quarter.
"The company has resumed normal operations, with some itinerary modifications and is continuing to deliver exceptional Caribbean cruise vacations to its guests," he added.
He said record results, coupled with strong booking trends, have ‘more than offset the anticipated earnings impact from these weather disruptions’.
As a result, the group has raised its previous earnings guidance range from the mid-point to the higher end.
It expects full year 2017 net revenue yields in constant currency to be up approximately 4% to the prior year, better than June guidance of up approximately 3.5%.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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