Carnival Corporation has reported net income of $835.9 million, or $1.40 per share, on revenues of $3 billion for the year ended Nov. 30, 1998, compared to net income of $666.1 million, or $1.12 per share, on revenues of $2.4 billion for the year ended Nov. 30, 1997.

1998 revenues were up 23 percent including Cunard Line, which Carnival acquired a 68 percent interest in at the end of May 1998, and 11.4 percent excluding Cunard, while earnings from affiliated companies, that is, Costa Crociere and Airtours, are added to the reported net income.

Carnival reported that it carried 2,045,000 passengers in 1998 (which is 38 percent of all the passengers reported by the Cruise Lines International Association for 1998) for a total of more than 13 million passenger cruise days, compared to 1,945,000 passengers and 11.9 million passenger cruise days in the previous year.

The load factor for 1998 was 106.3 percent compared to 108.3 percent for 1997.

Fourth Quarter

Carnival reported net income of $220.6 million, or $0.37 per share, on revenues of $728.6 million for the its fourth quarter ended Nov. 30, 1998, compared to net income of $155.4 million, or $0.26 per share, on revenues of $524.4 million for the same quarter in 1997.

Revenues for the fourth quarter increased 39 percent over the comparable quarter in 1997 or 15 percent excluding Cunard.

Carnival carried 522,000 passengers in its fourth quarter of 1998, representing 3.3 million passenger cruise days, compared to 442,000 passengers and 2.7 million passenger cruise days in 1997.

The load factor for the fourth quarter of 1998 was 102.1 percent compared to 104.2 percent in 1997.

Forward

According to Chairman and CEO Micky Arison, 1999 is shaping up to be another good year for Carnival.

Arison said in a prepared statement that new capacity resulting from the introduction of the Paradise in November 1998, along with the scheduled launch of the Carnival Triumph in July 1999 and the Volendam in August 1999, is expected to be the primary driver of revenue and earnings growth. He also said that “bookings for 1999 were quite strong.”

In a December conference call, Carnival management indicated that advance booking trends ahead of those  were slightly below last year’s but registered in 1997.

Meanwhile, following its recent offering of 17 million shares, Carnival added more than $700 million to its coffers, or “war-chest,” and there is now widespread speculation about Carnival’s intentions. In a previous statement, Carnival said it intended to use the proceeds from the offering to pay down indebtedness and for expansion purposes.

Carnival bas also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share for its first quarter ending Feb. 28, 1999.  

1999-01-15