Carnival generated revenue of $5.4 billion in its fiscal first quarter, the British-American cruise giant reported Wednesday. It's the shipping company's strongest top line this quarter ever.
“A great start,” according to Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein. Image: Bloomberg
The quarterly period is rounded off with the month of February. In the corresponding quarter of the previous year, revenues were $4.4 billion. The forecast is now at $5.33 billion, according to CNBC, which is indicative of the FactSet consensus.
The operating result turned into a profit of $276 million, from minus $172 million a year ago. In total, there was a deficit of $214 million, compared to a loss of $693 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2023.
Bookings during the first quarter were also record, driven by demand for 2025 and beyond, says Carnival, which at the same time charged much higher prices than it did at the same time last year. The shipping company announced customer deposits reached $7.0 billion, a new record for the first quarter – and $1.3 billion higher than the previous record for the period.
-This has been a great start to the year. We delivered another strong quarter, which exceeded guidance in all respects, says CEO Josh Weinstein.
Baltimore Bang
Meanwhile, Carnival estimates that the bridge collapse in Baltimore this week could hurt adjusted operating earnings before depreciation and amortization and adjusted net profit by as much as $10 million — or 100 million kroner — this year.
Excluding Baltimore impacts, Carnival estimates full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA of $5.63 billion, plus adjusted net income of $1.28 billion.
Ebitda guidance indicates growth of more than 30 percent from 2023, an upward revision from Carnival's guidance provided before the new year.
The first-quarter adjusted EBITDA result ended at $871 million, more than $70 million higher than the freight forwarding company's December. Adjusted net profit in the three-month period was minus $180 million.
Carnival shares rose about 3 percent in US trading on Wednesday afternoon. Last year, the cruise giant's shares rose 90 percent.
Throughout 2023, the stock rose 130 percent, as society reopened after the Corona pandemic, according to what CNBC reported.
The Carnival group includes 87 ships sailing under nine different brand names, including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises. The group has 120,000 employees and more than 13 million customers annually.
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