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Carnival Corp & plc First Quarter Results

15th Mar 2013 13:15

CARNIVAL PLC - Carnival Corp & plc First Quarter Results

CARNIVAL PLC - Carnival Corp & plc First Quarter Results

PR Newswire

London, March 15

CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC REPORTS FIRST QUARTER RESULTS Carnival Corporation & plc today reported its results of operations for the firstquarter ended February 28, 2013. The results of Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc havebeen consolidated, and this statement includes consolidated results on a U.S. GAAP basis.

1Q Highlights

- 1Q revenues were $3.6b in line with the prior year

- 1Q net revenue yields in constant dollars decreased 2.3% (down 1.9% in current

dollars) which was in line with the company's December guidance

- Excluding fuel, constant dollar net cruise costs per available lower berth day

("ALBD") decreased 3.1% which was better than the company's December guidance, down

1.5 to 2.5% due to the timing of certain expenses

- Fuel prices decreased 4% to $677 per metric ton for 1Q 2013 versus $707 per

metric ton in 1Q 2012

- Fuel consumption per ALBD decreased 5% in 1Q 2013 compared to the prior year

- 1Q Non-GAAP (diluted) earnings per share of $0.08, compared to $0.02 for the

prior year

- 1Q U.S. GAAP (diluted) earnings per share of $0.05 included net unrealized

losses on fuel derivatives of $28m 2013 Outlook

- At this time, cumulative advance bookings for 2013 are behind the prior

year at prices in line with the prior year levels

- Net revenue yields for FY 2013 are expected to be in line with the prior year

compared to up 1 to 2% in the December guidance

- Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for FY 2013 are expected to be up 2.5

to 3.5% on a constant dollar basis compared to up 1 to 2% in the December guidance

- FY 2013 non-GAAP earnings per share (diluted) expected to be in the range of

$1.80 to $2.10, compared to $1.88 for 2012

- 2Q 2013 non-GAAP earnings per share (diluted) expected to be in the range of

$0.04 to $0.08, compared to $0.20 in 2Q 2012

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Micky Arison commenting on these results:

"Booking volumes during our seasonally strong wave period have remained solid withpricing comparisons improving in recent weeks. However, economic uncertainty in Europecontinues to hinder yield growth." "Despite considerable attention surrounding the Carnival Triumph, we had beenencouraged to see booking volumes for Carnival Cruise Lines recover significantly inrecent weeks. Attractive pricing promotions, combined with strong support from the travelagent community and consumers who recognize the company's well-established reputation andquality product offering, were driving the strong booking volumes." "Our long term business fundamentals remain strong as we broaden our customer base ofnew and repeat cruisers through attractive product offerings, high satisfaction levels andcompelling value propositions. We expect to drive return on invested capital higherthrough a measured pace of capacity growth and a continued focus on fuel consumptionsavings. We continue to expect over $3 billion of cash from operations this year andremain committed to returning free cash flow to shareholders in 2013 and beyond." MEDIA CONTACT INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT Jennifer de la Cruz Beth Roberts 001 305 599 2600, ext. 16000 001 305 406 4832 Analyst conference call The company has scheduled a conference call with analysts at 10:00 a.m. EDT (2:00 p.m.GMT) today to discuss its 2013 first quarter results. This call can be listened to live,and additional information can be obtained, via Carnival Corporation & plc's Web site athttp://www.carnivalcorp.com and http://www.carnivalplc.com.

Carnival Corporation & plc

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with aportfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised ofCarnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises,Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK). Together, these brands operate 101 ships totaling 205,000 lower berths with eight newships scheduled to be delivered between May 2013 and April 2016. Carnival Corporation &plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company inAlaska 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. Carnival Corporation & plc Reports First Quarter Results MIAMI, March 15, 2013 -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:CCL; NYSE: CUK) announced non-GAAP net income of $65 million, or $0.08 diluted EPS for thefirst quarter of 2013. Reported U.S. GAAP net income, which included net unrealized losseson fuel derivatives of $28 million, was $37 million, or $0.05 diluted EPS. Non-GAAP netincome for the first quarter of 2012 was $13 million, or $0.02 diluted EPS. Reported U.S.GAAP net loss was $139 million, or $0.18 diluted loss per share, for the first quarter of2012, which included the non-cash write-down for Ibero Cruises goodwill and trademarkassets of $173 million and net unrealized gains on fuel derivatives of $21 million.Revenues for the first quarter of 2013 were $3.6 billion in line with the prior year. Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman and CEO Micky Arison noted that first quarterearnings were better than December guidance due to the timing of certain expensespartially offset by $0.02 per share resulting from voyage disruptions and related repaircosts.

Key metrics for the first quarter 2013 compared to the prior year were as follows:

- On a constant dollar basis, net revenue yields (net revenue per available

lower berth day or "ALBD") decreased 2.3 percent for 1Q 2013, which was in line with

the company's December guidance, down 2 to 3 percent. Gross revenue yields decreased

3.4 percent in current dollars.

- Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD decreased 3.1 percent in constant

dollars, which was better than December guidance, down 1.5 to 2.5 percent primarily

due to the timing of certain expenses. Gross cruise costs including fuel per ALBD in

current dollars decreased 5.5 percent.

- Fuel prices decreased 4 percent to $677 per metric ton for 1Q 2013 from $707

per metric ton in 1Q 2012 and were in line with the December guidance of $674 per

metric ton.

- Fuel consumption per ALBD decreased 5 percent in 1Q 2013 compared to the prior

year.

- The company repurchased 2.3 million shares valued at $87 million during fiscal

2013.

Earlier this week the company took delivery of AIDA Cruises' 2,192-passengerAIDAstella. In addition, the company recently reached an agreement for the sale of thethree original 212-berth ships for its luxury Seabourn brand, which are expected to leavethe fleet in 2014 and 2015.

2013 Outlook

At this time, cumulative advance bookings for 2013 are behind the prior year at pricesin line with the prior year levels. Since January, booking volumes for the remainder ofthe year, including Costa, are running significantly higher than last year at slightlyhigher prices. Arison noted, "Booking volumes during our seasonally strong wave period have remainedsolid with pricing comparisons improving in recent weeks. However, economic uncertainty inEurope continues to hinder yield growth." Arison added, "Despite considerable attention surrounding the Carnival Triumph, we hadbeen encouraged to see booking volumes for Carnival Cruise Lines recover significantly inrecent weeks. Attractive pricing promotions, combined with strong support from the travelagent community and consumers who recognize the company's well-established reputation andquality product offering, were driving the strong booking volumes." The company now expects full year net revenue yields, on a constant dollar basis to bein line with the prior year compared to up 1 to 2 percent in the December guidance. Thechange in net yields is due to the economic uncertainty in Europe and pricing promotionsfor the Carnival brand combined with less than expected growth in onboard revenue acrossthe group. The company also expects net revenue yields on a current dollar basis to beflat for the full year. The company expects net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for 2013 to be up 2.5 to3.5 percent on a constant dollar basis compared to up 1 to 2 percent in the Decemberguidance. The change in cost guidance is due to the impact of repair costs, as previouslyannounced, as well as, expenses related to the enhancement of vessels in the remainder ofthe fleet as a result of the ship incident. Taking the above factors into consideration, the company forecasts full year 2013non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $1.80 to $2.10, compared to 2012non-GAAP diluted earnings of $1.88 per share. Looking forward, Arison stated, "Our long term business fundamentals remain strong aswe broaden our customer base of new and repeat cruisers through attractive productofferings, high satisfaction levels and compelling value propositions. We expect to drivereturn on invested capital higher through a measured pace of capacity growth and acontinued focus on fuel consumption savings. We continue to expect over $3 billion of cashfrom operations this year and remain committed to returning free cash flow to shareholdersin 2013 and beyond."

Second Quarter 2013 Outlook

Second quarter constant dollar net revenue yields are expected to be down slightlycompared to the prior year. Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD for the secondquarter are expected to be up 9.5 to 10.5 percent on a constant dollar basis compared tothe prior year due primarily to the timing of certain expenses and repair costs related tothe ship incident. Based on the above factors, the company expects non-GAAP diluted earnings for thesecond quarter 2013 to be in the range of $0.04 to $0.08 per share versus 2012 non-GAAPearnings of $0.20 per share.

At the end of the second quarter, the company will take delivery of Princess Cruises3,560-passenger Royal Princess.

Selected Key Forecast Metrics Full Year 2013 Second Quarter 2013 Current Constant Current ConstantYear over year change: Dollars Dollars Dollars DollarsNet revenue yields (0.5) to 0.5 % (0.5) to 0.5 % (1) to (2) % (0.5) to (1.5) %Net cruise costs excl. fuel / ALBD 2.5 to 3.5 % 2.5 to 3.5 %

9 to 10 % 9.5 to 10.5 %

Full Year 2013 Second Quarter 2013Fuel price per metric ton $691

$68

Fuel consumption (metric tons in thousands) 3,285 825Currency: Euro $1.31 to EUR1 $1.31 to EUR1 Sterling $1.52 to GBP1 $1.50 to GBP1 Conference Call The company has scheduled a conference call with analysts at 10:00 a.m. EDT (2:00 p.m.GMT) today to discuss its 2013 first quarter results. This call can be listened to live,and additional information can be obtained, via Carnival Corporation & plc's Web site athttp://www.carnivalcorp.com and http://www.carnivalplc.com. Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with aportfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised ofCarnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises,Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK). Together, these brands operate 101 ships totaling 205,000 lower berths with eight newships scheduled to be delivered between May 2013 and April 2016. Carnival Corporation &plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company inAlaska 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.

Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results

Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc and their respective subsidiaries are referredto 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 withrespect to us, including some statements concerning future results, outlooks, plans, goalsand other events which have not yet occurred. These statements are intended to qualify forthe safe harbors from liability provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 andSection 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We have tried, whenever possible, toidentify these statements by using words like "will," "may," "could," "should," "would,""believe," "depends," "expect," "goal," "anticipate," "forecast," "future," "intend,""plan," "estimate," "target," "indicate" and similar expressions of future intent or thenegative of such terms. Forward-looking statements include those statements that may impact, among otherthings, the forecasting of our non-GAAP earnings per share ("EPS"); net revenue yields;booking levels; pricing; occupancy; operating, financing and tax costs, including fuelexpenses; costs per available lower berth day; estimates of ship depreciable lives andresidual values; liquidity; goodwill and trademark fair values; and outlook. Becauseforward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are many factors thatcould cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially fromthose expressed or implied in this release. These factors include, but are not limited to,the following:

- general economic and business conditions;

- increases in fuel prices;

- incidents, the spread of contagious diseases and threats thereof, adverse

weather conditions or other natural disasters and other incidents affecting the

health, safety, security and satisfaction of guests and crew;

- the international political climate, armed conflicts, terrorist and pirate

attacks, vessel seizures, and threats thereof, and other world events affecting the

safety and security of travel; - negative publicity concerning the cruise business in general or us in particular, including any adverse environmental impacts of cruising; - litigation, enforcement actions, fines or penalties;

- economic, market and political factors that are beyond our control, which

could increase our operating, financing and other costs;

- changes in and compliance with laws and regulations relating to the protection

of persons with disabilities, employment, environment, health, safety, security, tax

and other regulations under which we operate;

- our ability to implement our shipbuilding programs and ship repairs,

maintenance and refurbishments on terms that are favorable or consistent with our

expectations;

- increases to our repairs and maintenance expenses and refurbishment costs as

our fleet ages;

- lack of continuing availability of attractive, convenient and safe port

destinations;

- continuing financial viability of our travel agent distribution system, air

service providers and other key vendors in our supply chain and reductions in the

availability of, and increases in the pricing for, the services and products provided

by these vendors;

- disruptions and other damages to our information technology and other networks

and operations, and breaches in data security;

- failure to keep pace with developments in technology;

- competition from and overcapacity in the cruise ship or land-based vacation

industry;

- loss of key personnel or our ability to recruit or retain qualified personnel;

- union disputes and other employee relation issues;

- disruptions in the global financial markets or other events that may

negatively affect the ability of our counterparties and others to perform their

obligations to us;

- the continued strength of our cruise brands and our ability to implement our

brand strategies;

- our international operations are subject to additional risks not generally

applicable to our U.S. operations;

- geographic regions in which we try to expand our business may be slow to

develop and ultimately not develop how we expect;

- our decisions to self-insure against various risks or our inability to obtain

insurance for certain risks at reasonable rates;

- fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;

- whether our future operating cash flow will be sufficient to fund future

obligations and whether we will be able to obtain financing, if necessary, in

sufficient amounts and on terms that are favorable or consistent with our

expectations;

- risks associated with the dual listed company arrangement; and

- uncertainties of foreign legal systems as Carnival Corporation and Carnival

plc are not U.S. corporations.

Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actualresults. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant stockexchange rules, we expressly disclaim any obligation to disseminate, after the date ofthis release, any updates or revisions to any such forward-looking statements to reflectany change in expectations or events, conditions or circumstances on which any suchstatements are based. CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) (in millions, except per share data) Three Months Ended February 28/29, 2013 2012Revenues Cruise Passenger tickets $ 2,740 $ 2,764 Onboard and other 844 809Tour and other 9 9 3,593 3,582 Operating Costs and Expenses Cruise Commissions, transportation and other 617 661 Onboard and other 127 126 Fuel 559 592 Payroll and related 460 442 Food 243 240 Other ship operating 579 619 (a) Tour and other 14 14 2,599 2,694 Selling and administrative 460 421 Depreciation and amortization 389 376 Ibero goodwill and trademark impairment charges - 173 3,448 3,664 Operating Income (Loss) 145 (82) Nonoperating (Expense) Income Interest income 2 3 Interest expense, net of capitalized interest (83) (88) Unrealized (losses) gains on fuel derivatives, net (28) 21 Other income, net 3 5 (106) (59) Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes 39 (141) Income Tax (Expense) Benefit, Net (2) 2 Net Income (Loss) $ 37 $ (139) Earnings (Loss) Per Share Basic $ 0.05 $ (0.18) Diluted $ 0.05 $ (0.18) Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share-Diluted $ 0.08 (b) $ 0.02 (b) Dividends Declared Per Share $ 0.25 $ 0.25 Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding - Basic 776 778 Weighted-Average Shares Outstanding - Diluted 778 778 (c) (a) Includes a $34 million impairment charge related to Costa Allegra.

(b) Excludes $(28) million and $21 million of net unrealized (losses) gains on fuel derivatives in 2013 and

2012, respectively, and $173 million of Ibero impairment charges in 2012.

(c) Non-GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding were 779 million, which includes the dilutive effect of

equity plans. CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED) (in millions, except par values) February 28, November 30, 2013 2012 ASSETS Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 476 $ 465 Trade and other receivables, net 400 270 Insurance recoverables 337 460 Inventories 383 390 Prepaid expenses and other 196 236 Total current assets 1,792 1,821 Property and Equipment, Net 31,726 32,137 Goodwill 3,143 3,174 Other Intangibles 1,303 1,314 Other Assets 711 715 $ 38,675 $ 39,161 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities Short-term borrowings $ 122 $ 56 Current portion of long-term debt 1,643 1,678 Accounts payable 570 549 Dividends payable 194 583 Claims reserve 440 553 Accrued liabilities and other 798 845 Customer deposits 3,015 3,076 Total current liabilities 6,782 7,340 Long-Term Debt 7,622 7,168 Other Long-Term Liabilities 748 724 Shareholders' Equity Common stock of Carnival Corporation, $0.01 par value; 1,960 shares authorized; 650 shares at 2013 and 649 shares at 2012 issued 7 6 Ordinary shares of Carnival plc, $1.66 par value; 215 shares at 2013 and 2012 issued 357 357 Additional paid-in capital 8,277 8,252 Retained earnings 18,322 18,479 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (399) (207)

Treasury stock, 58 shares at 2013 and 55 shares at 2012 of Carnival Corporation

and 32 shares at 2013 and 33 shares at 2012 of Carnival plc, at cost (3,041) (2,958) Total shareholders' equity 23,523 23,929 $ 38,675 $ 39,161 CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC OTHER INFORMATION Three Months Ended February 28/29, 2013 2012 STATISTICAL INFORMATION Passengers carried (in thousands) 2,305 2,262 Occupancy percentage (a) 104.0% 105.3% Fuel consumption (metric tons in thousands) 827 837 Fuel cost per metric ton consumed $ 677 $ 707 Currencies U.S. dollar to EUR1 $ 1.33 $ 1.31 U.S. dollar to GBP1 $ 1.58 $ 1.56 U.S. dollar to Australian dollar $ 1.04 $ 1.04 CASH FLOW INFORMATION Cash from operations $ 399 $ 322 Capital expenditures $ 241 $ 267 Dividends paid $ 582 $ 194 (a) In accordance with cruise business practice, occupancy is calculated using a denominator of two passengers per cabin even though some cabins can accommodate three or more passengers. Percentages in excess of 100% indicate that on average more than two passengers occupied some cabins. FUEL DERIVATIVES

At February 28, 2013, our outstanding fuel derivatives consisted of zero cost collarson Brent crude oil to cover a portion of our estimated fuel consumption as follows:

Transaction Barrels Weighted-Average

Weighted-Average Percent of Estimated

Dates (in thousands) Floor Prices Ceiling Prices Fuel Consumption Maturities (a) (b) Covered Fiscal 2013 (Q2-Q4) November 2011 1,584 $ 74 $ 132 February 2012 1,584 $ 98 $ 127 March 2012 3,168 $ 100 $ 130 6,336 40% Fiscal 2014 November 2011 2,112 $ 71 $ 128 February 2012 2,112 $ 88 $ 125 June 2012 2,376 $ 71 $ 116 6,600 32% Fiscal 2015 November 2011 2,160 $ 71 $ 125 February 2012 2,160 $ 80 $ 125 June 2012 1,236 $ 74 $ 110 5,556 27% Fiscal 2016 June 2012 3,564 $ 75 $ 108 February 2013 2,160 $ 80 $ 120 5,724 27% Fiscal 2017 February 2013 3,276 $ 80 $ 115 16%

(a) Fuel derivatives mature evenly over each month within the above fiscal periods.

(b) We will not realize any economic gain or loss upon the monthly maturities of our zero cost collars

unless the average monthly price of Brent crude oil is above the ceiling price or below the floor price.

CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Consolidated gross and net revenue yields were computed by dividing the gross and net cruise revenues,

without rounding, by ALBDs as follows (dollars in millions, except yields) (a) (b):

Three

Months Ended February 28/29,

2013 Constant 2013 Dollar 2012 Passenger ticket revenues $ 2,740 $ 2,725 $ 2,764 Onboard and other revenues 844 841 809 Gross cruise revenues 3,584 3,566 3,573 Less cruise costs Commissions, transportation and other (617) (613) (661) Onboard and other (127) (126) (126) (744) (739) (787) Net passenger ticket revenues 2,123 2,112 2,103 Net onboard and other revenues 717 715 683 Net cruise revenues $ 2,840 $ 2,827 $ 2,786 ALBDs (c) 17,979,235 17,979,235 17,308,535 Gross revenue yields $ 199.34 $ 198.38 $ 206.40 % decrease vs. 2012 (3.4)% (3.9)% Net revenue yields $ 157.95 $ 157.24 $ 160.93 % decrease vs. 2012 (1.9)% (2.3)% Net passenger ticket revenue yields $ 118.07 $ 117.50 $ 121.47 % decrease vs. 2012 (2.8)% (3.3)% Net onboard and other revenue yields $ 39.88 $ 39.75 $ 39.46 % increase vs. 2012 1.1% 0.7% Consolidated gross and net cruise costs and net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBDwere computed by dividing the gross and net cruise costs and net cruise costs excludingfuel, without rounding, by ALBDs as follows (dollars in millions, except costs per ALBD)(a) (b):

Three Months Ended February 28/29,

2013 Constant 2013 Dollar 2012 Cruise operating expenses

$ 2,585 $ 2,575 $ 2,680

Cruise selling and administrative expenses (d) 458 455 419 Gross cruise costs

3,043 3,030 3,099

Less cruise costs included in net cruise revenues

Commissions, transportation and other (617) (613) (661) Onboard and other (127) (126) (126) Net cruise costs 2,299 2,291 2,312 Less fuel (559) (559) (592) Net cruise costs excluding fuel

$ 1,740 $ 1,732 $ 1,720

ALBDs (c)

17,979,235 17,979,235 17,308,535

Gross cruise costs per ALBD $

169.24 $ 168.55 $ 179.04

% decrease vs. 2012

(5.5) % (5.9) %

Net cruise costs per ALBD $

127.85 $ 127.41 $ 133.57

% decrease vs. 2012

(4.3)% (4.6)%

Net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD $ 96.73 $ 96.30 $ 99.38 % decrease vs. 2012 (2.7)% (3.1) % CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (CONTINUED) Non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share was computed as follows (in millions, except per share data) (b): Three Months Ended February 28/29, 2013 2012 Net income (loss) - diluted U.S. GAAP net income (loss) $ 37 $ (139) Ibero goodwill and trademark impairment charges (e) - 173 Unrealized losses (gains) on fuel derivatives, net (f) 28 (21) Non-GAAP net income $ 65 $ 13 Weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted 778 778 (f) Earnings (loss) per share - diluted U.S. GAAP earnings (loss) per share $ 0.05 $ (0.18) Ibero goodwill and trademark impairment charges (e) - 0.22 Unrealized losses (gains) on fuel derivatives, net (f) 0.03 (0.02) Non-GAAP earnings per share $ 0.08 $ 0.02 Notes to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (a) We use net cruise revenues per ALBD ("net revenue yields"), net cruise costs perALBD and net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD as significant non-GAAP financialmeasures of our cruise segment financial performance. These measures enable us to separatethe impact of predictable capacity changes from the more unpredictable rate changes thataffect our business. We believe these non-GAAP measures provide useful information toinvestors and expanded insight to measure our revenue and cost performance as a supplementto our U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP") consolidated financialstatements. Net revenue yields are commonly used in the cruise business to measure a company'scruise segment revenue performance and for revenue management purposes. We use "net cruiserevenues" rather than "gross cruise revenues" to calculate net revenue yields. We believethat net cruise revenues is a more meaningful measure in determining revenue yield thangross cruise revenues because it reflects the cruise revenues earned net of our mostsignificant variable costs, which are travel agent commissions, cost of air and othertransportation, certain other costs that are directly associated with onboard and otherrevenues and credit card fees. Substantially all of our remaining cruise costs are largelyfixed, except for the impact of changing prices and food expenses, once our ship capacitylevels have been determined. Net passenger ticket revenues reflect gross cruise revenues, net of (1) onboard andother revenues, (2) commissions, transportation and other costs and (3) onboard and othercruise costs. Net onboard and other revenues reflect gross cruise revenues, net of (1)passenger ticket revenues, (2) commissions, transportation and other costs and (3) onboardand other cruise costs. Net passenger ticket revenue yields and net onboard and otherrevenue yields are computed by dividing net passenger ticket revenues and net onboard andother revenues by ALBDs. Net cruise costs per ALBD and net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD are the mostsignificant measures we use to monitor our ability to control our cruise segment costsrather than gross cruise costs per ALBD. We exclude the same variable costs that areincluded in the calculation of net cruise revenues to calculate net cruise costs with andwithout fuel to avoid duplicating these variable costs in our non-GAAP financial measures. We have not provided estimates of future gross revenue yields or future gross cruisecosts per ALBD because the quantitative reconciliations of forecasted gross cruiserevenues to forecasted net cruise revenues or forecasted gross cruise costs to forecastednet cruise costs would include a significant amount of uncertainty in projecting the costsdeducted to arrive at this measure. As such, management does not believe that thisreconciling information would be meaningful. CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (CONTINUED) In addition, because our Europe, Australia & Asia brands utilize the euro, sterlingand Australian dollar to measure their results and financial condition, the translation ofthose operations to our U.S. dollar reporting currency results in decreases in reportedU.S. dollar revenues and expenses if the U.S. dollar strengthens against these foreigncurrencies and increases in reported U.S. dollar revenues and expenses if the U.S. dollarweakens against these foreign currencies. Accordingly, we also monitor and report thesenon-GAAP financial measures assuming the 2013 period currency exchange rates have remainedconstant with the 2012 period rates, or on a "constant dollar basis," in order to removethe impact of changes in exchange rates on our non-U.S. dollar cruise operations. Webelieve that this is a useful measure since it facilitates a comparative view of thegrowth of our business in a fluctuating currency exchange rate environment. (b) Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.The presentation of our non-GAAP financial information is not intended to be considered inisolation or as substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared inaccordance with U.S. GAAP. There are no specific rules for determining our non-GAAPcurrent and constant dollar financial measures and, accordingly, they are susceptible tovarying calculations, and it is possible that they may not be exactly comparable to thelike-kind information presented by other companies, which is a potential risk associatedwith using these measures to compare us to other companies. (c) ALBDs is a standard measure of passenger capacity for the period, which we use toperform rate and capacity variance analyses to determine the main non-capacity drivenfactors that cause our cruise revenues and expenses to vary. ALBDs assume that each cabinwe offer for sale accommodates two passengers and is computed by multiplying passengercapacity by revenue-producing ship operating days in the period. (d) For the three months ended February 28/29, 2013 and 2012, selling andadministrative expenses were $460 million and $421 million, respectively. For the threemonths ended February 28/29, 2013 and 2012, selling and administrative expenses werecomprised of cruise selling and administrative expenses of $458 million and $419 million,respectively, and Tour and Other selling and administrative expenses of $2 million and $2million, respectively. (e) We believe that the impairment charges recognized in 2012 related to Ibero'sgoodwill and trademarks are nonrecurring and, therefore, are not an indication of ourfuture earnings performance. As such, we believe it is more meaningful for the impairmentcharges to be excluded from our net loss and loss per share and, accordingly, we presentnon-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS excluding these impairment charges. (f) Under U.S. GAAP, the realized and unrealized gains and losses on fuel derivativesnot qualifying as fuel hedges are recognized currently in earnings. We believe thatunrealized gains and losses on fuel derivatives are not an indication of our earningsperformance since they relate to future periods and may not ultimately be realized in ourfuture earnings. Therefore, we believe it is more meaningful for the unrealized gains andlosses on fuel derivatives to be excluded from our net income and EPS and, accordingly, wepresent non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS excluding these unrealized gains and losses.For the three months ended February 29, 2012, non-GAAP diluted weighted-average sharesoutstanding were 779 million, which includes the dilutive effect of equity plans. We have not included in our earnings guidance the impact of unrealized gains andlosses on fuel derivatives because these unrealized amounts involve a significant amountof uncertainty, and we do not believe they are an indication of our future earningsperformance. Accordingly, our earnings guidance is presented on a non-GAAP basis only. Asa result, we did not present a reconciliation between forecasted non-GAAP diluted EPSguidance and forecasted U.S. GAAP diluted EPS guidance, since we do not believe that thereconciliation information would be meaningful.

SOURCE Carnival Plc

CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT, Jennifer De La Cruz, +1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000; INVESTORRELATIONS CONTACT, Beth Roberts, +1-305-406-4832


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