PANAMA (dpa-AFX) - Cruise operator Carnival Corp. & plc (CCL, CUK, CCL.L) reported Friday a net loss for the fourth quarter compared to a profit last year, reflecting lower operating costs and revenue growth.
Adjusted earnings per share topped analysts' expectation, while quarterly revenues missed their estimates. The company also provided earnings guidance for the first quarter and full-year 2015, both in line with Street view.
The year so far has been incident free for Carnival. The cruise line had been plagued by a series of mishaps in previous years, including the 2012 Costa Concordia disaster and a 2013 sailing where Carnival Triumph passengers were stranded at sea for five days without working toilets.
'Last quarter operating profit more than doubled due to higher ticket prices and onboard spending combined with lower costs, also exceeding previous guidance. During the quarter, the Carnival Cruise Lines brand achieved a significant increase in revenue yields despite a highly competitive environment in the Caribbean. Additionally, Costa's Asia operations achieved double-digit revenue yield improvement on a capacity increase in that region,' President and CEO Arnold Donald said.
The Miami, Florida-based world's largest travel and leisure company reported a net loss of $102 million or $0.13 per share for the fourth quarter, compared to net income of $66 million or $0.08 per share in the prior-year quarter.
Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $210 million or $0.27 per share, compared to $35 million or $0.04 per share in the year-ago quarter.
On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Carnival to report earnings of $0.20 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the quarter increased to $3.72 billion from $3.66 billion in the same quarter last year, but missed eleven Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $3.81 billion.
For the fourth quarter, revenues from cruise passenger ticket sales totaled $2.75 billion, up from $2.70 billion last year, and cruise on-board and other revenues grew to $941 million from $929 million in the year-ago quarter.
Operating costs and expenses for the quarter decreased to $3.45 billion from $3.56 billion in the year-ago quarter, with fuel prices declining 13 percent to $584 per metric ton from last year's $671 per metric ton.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2015, Carnival expects adjusted earnings in a range of $0.07 per share to $0.11 per share, while analysts are projecting earnings of $0.10 per share for the quarter.
For fiscal 2015, the company provided initial adjusted earnings guidance in a range of $2.30 to $2.60 per share. Street is currently looking for full-year 2015 earnings of $2.34 per share.
Looking forward, Donald stated, 'Based on our current 2015 guidance, we expect to achieve a 50 percent improvement in earnings compared to 2013 and are firmly on a path toward delivering double-digit returns on invested capital.'
Separately, Carnival announced new cruise ship orders for two of its brands with Fincantieri S.p.A., the world's largest cruise ship building company. The new cruise ships will be constructed by Fincantieri for Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line, two of Carnival's nine brands.
The company had revealed in early November that it would increase fleet capacity by nearly 10 percent from 2014 through 2016, fueled largely by the addition of four new ships across four brands in less than 18 months.
In Friday's regular trading session, CCL is currently trading at $44.84, up $0.34 or 0.76% on a volume of 2.93 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock traded in a range of $33.11 to $44.98. CUK is currently trading at $43.95, down $0.21 or 0.48% on a volume of 0.26 million shares.
CCL.L is currently trading on the London Stock Exchange at 2,821.00 pence, up 8.00 pence or 0.28% on a volume of 0.82 million shares.
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