Carnival CCL sees 3% rise in earnings

[CanadianCruiser]

MIAMI — Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise group, reported a nearly 3 percent rise in second-quarter earnings Tuesday, overcoming weak pricing in the Caribbean and higher fuel costs with a strong performance in Europe.

The company lowered its full-year earnings guidance because of those fuel costs, but said that Caribbean bookings were improving.

Miami-based Carnival reported net income of $390 million, or 48 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 31, versus $380 million, or 46 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $2.9 billion from $2.66 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a profit of 47 cents per share on sales of $2.88 billion, on average.

The cruise operator had given guidance of between 45 cents per share and 47 cents per share for its second quarter earnings.

Micky Arison, Carnival chairman and chief executive, said revenue from North American and European cruises fell in line with company expectations.

"The Caribbean, which still had a relatively high percentage of our capacity during the second quarter, continued to experience price pressure," Arison said. "However, increases in revenue yields from our European brands together with the strengthening euro and sterling produced significant revenue yield growth outside of North America."

The higher fuel costs affected earnings by approximately 2 cents per share, Arison said.

Shares of Carnival rose 5 cents to $49.71 Tuesday.

[hazelson]

Gee - I'm glad I could help the "little guy" lol.