Carnival Corp slashed more red ink off its first-quarter earnings than the cruise giant expected as the Miami company trumpeted a hot booking environment.
But the New York-listed outfit unveiled full-year guidance that shows that it will deliver another annual loss in its 2023 fiscal year.
Carnival reported a net loss of $693m for the fiscal first quarter, which ended 28 February. The figure is significantly lower than the $1.89bn in red ink for the same period a year earlier.
And the company’s $690m adjusted net loss, which excludes non-cash and non-recurring items typically excluded from analyst estimates, was better than the cruise ship operator’s previous guidance that predicted $750m to $850m in red ink.
“In the first quarter, we outperformed our guidance on all measures,” said chief executive Josh Weinstein.
“We achieved record first-quarter net per diems [onboard passenger spending per day], exceeding the high end of our guidance, driven by improving ticket prices and sustained growth in onboard revenue, while delivering an additional seven points of occupancy on higher capacity compared to the prior quarter.”
Carnival delivered $4.43bn in first quarter revenue, which was not only better than the $1.62bn a year earlier and also worth 95% of the figure in the same period of fiscal 2019, before Covid-19 brought the cruise business to a halt.
But customer deposits beat both last year’s figure and the pre-pandemic benchmark, reaching a record $5.7bn at the end of February.
And cash from operations turned positive during the period, a development that Carnival believes could help it pay down debt.
The records continue for the key booking period of the year, known as the wave season, as it nears its close.
“We are enjoying a phenomenal wave season, achieving our highest ever quarterly booking volumes and breaking records in both North America and Europe,” Weinstein said.
“Our strong performance has extended into March and we expect this favourable trend to continue based on the success of our efforts to drive demand.”
Looking forward, Carnival expects to log an adjusted net loss of $350m to $550m for the full fiscal year, which ends on 30 November.
