18th Dec 2015 15:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Carnival PLC on Friday reported a material rise in earnings during the last financial year as lower costs offset a dip in revenue caused by exchange rates, and Carnival said it is expecting its earnings to experience an even larger rise in 2016.
The FTSE 100-listed cruise operator reported a 47% jump in pretax income to USD1.79 billion in the year ended November 30 from USD1.22 billion a year earlier, despite revenue taking a slight dip to USD15.71 billion from USD15.88 billion after taking a USD800.0 million hit from currency exchange rates.
Basic earnings per share for the year rose accordingly to USD2.26 from USD1.57.
Carnival's headline net income, which is before gains on ships and ship impairments, net and restructuring expenses, increased to USD2.10 billion from USD1.50 billion, equating to headline earnings per share of USD2.70 compared to USD1.93.
Following those rises, Carnival upped its dividend for the year to USD1.10 per share from USD1.00 last year.
Operating income rose to USD2.57 billion from USD1.77 billion, amid lower operating costs for food, fuel, payroll and commissioning, whilst other expenses either remained broadly flat or experienced minor rises.
Although it saved money on fuel, driven by the fall in oil prices since the middle of 2014, Carnival also booked a USD576.0 million loss on fuel derivatives compared to losing only USD271.0 million a year earlier, offsetting some of those savings through its operating costs.
In terms of sales for the financial year, Carnival reported a fall in revenue generated from ticket sales to USD11.60 billion from USD11.88 billion, but booked more money from onboard sales which increased to USD3.88 billion from USD3.78 billion and from tours and other activities which stepped up to USD226.0 million from USD215.0 million.
Carnival said it is confident moving forward and said advanced bookings for the first three quarters of 2016 are "well ahead" from the prior year, adding that prices are slightly higher on a constant currency basis. Booking volumes since September are broadly flat, but again benefiting from higher prices.
"As we had anticipated, with less inventory remaining for sale, we have begun to sell at higher prices than the same time last year, particularly close to departure, affirming our expectation of continued yield improvement in 2016," Carnival said.
Carnival will also add four new ships to its fleet in 2016. Holland America Line's Koningsdam and
AIDAprima will debut in April, Carnival Vista will enter service in May, and Seabourn Encore in December.
Looking forward, Carnival said it expects its headline earnings per share to come in at USD3.10 to USD3.40 per share in 2016, which would be a large rise from the USD2.70 reported Friday. Narrowing that down, headline EPS in the first quarter of 2016 is expected to be around USD0.28 to USD0.32 per share compared to USD0.20 in the first quarter of the last financial year.
Focusing on the fourth quarter results, Carnival said revenue was flat year-on-year at USD3.71 billion but operating income increased to USD510.0 million from USD265.0 million, with pretax income swinging to USD271.0 million from a USD97.0 million loss.
Carnival shares were trading up 0.6% to 3,575.0 pence per share in London on Friday afternoon.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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