Carnival Corp.'s third-quarter results came in better than expected, a result of tight cost controls and efforts to stem the decline in ticket yields in the wake of the Costa Concordia accident.
The company's net profit was $1.33 billion, compared with $1.37 billion a year earlier.
The company's earnings amounted to $1.53 per share. Analyst Sharon Zackfia of William Blair & Co. had forecast earnings of $1.41 a share for the third quarter.
Carnival said that for the past six weeks, booking volume excluding Costa Cruises was up 9% over the same period last year, at comparable prices.
But for the rest of the year and the first half of 2013, bookings are still slightly behind pace at lower prices.
Carnival Chairman Micky Arison said the results leave Carnival positioned for a recovery in ticket prices beginning in the second quarter of 2013.
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