Carnival Cruise Lines has reported income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter ended November 30, 1992 of $43.1 million ($0.31 per share) on revenues of $311 million compared to income from continuing operations of $38.7 million ($0.28 per share) on revenues of $305.6 million for the same period in 1991.
The increase in earnings and revenues was achieved in spite of the fact that this was the first fourth quarter in the last six years that Carnival has carried fewer passengers than in the previous year’s fourth quarter.
For the fiscal year ended November 30, 1992, income from continuing operations was up $28 million to $276.6 million ($2.00 per share) on revenues of $1.47 billion compared to income from continuing operations of $253.8 million ($1.85 per share) on revenues of $1.40 billion for the same period in 1991.
The revenue increase for the year was primarily attributed to the additional capacity provided by the Ecstasy which entered service in June 1991.
If the increase in earnings for the year, which was approximately $69 million, is attributed fully to the Ecstasy, it would mean that she generated revenues of about $2 million per cruise. This in turn translates into revenues of about $1,000 per passenger based on a full ship or per diems of about $140.00.
It is more likely, however, that the Ecstasy generated higher revenues and that some of the other ships suffered.
As the Ecstasy was in service an additional six months in fiscal 1992 compared to 1991, she should have contributed at least an additional 60,000 passengers. Instead, Carnival reported 53,553 more passengers in 1992 compared to 1991. However, some of the passenger dilution can be attributed to two cancelled cruises aboard the Mardis Gras and the effects of Hurricane Andrew.
Load Factors
Carnival’s reported load factor for its fiscal year was 105.3 percent – the lowest during the last six years.
The reported load factor for the three month period ended November 30, 1992 was 100.6 percent – the lowest reported for the fourth quarter during the last six years. Carnival carried 261,301 passengers in its fourth quarter this year compared to 262,245 in the same period last year.
EPS
Earnings per share from continuing operations were $2.00 an net earnings per share were $1.96 compared to analysts’ recent predictions of $2.00 per share revised downwards from $2.05 to $2.15 projected earlier in the year.
EPS from continuing operations for 1991 was $1.85.
Analysts projections range from $2.25 to $2.30 earnings per share for 1993.
Per Passenger…
Income from continuing operations reached $244 per passenger in 1992 compared to $231 per passenger in 1991.
The average revenue per passenger was $1,278 in 1992 compared to $1,278 also in 1991.
1993
It is expected that Carnival will produce increased revenues and earnings in 1993, especially with two new ships added to its fleet, but it is uncertain how well the company will do. Contrary to popular perception, capacity growth is not tapering off in 1993, which in fact will see a 10 percent capacity increase over 1992, based on new ships and re-deployment of ships into the three- and four-day market.
