Carnival Corp.'s net income for the first
quarter of 2007 was up 13% over the same period in 2006, buoyed by
increased capacity and strong pricing in Europe, the company said
in an earnings call with analysts on March 16.
Carnival Corp.
Chairman and CEO Micky Arison said that, "despite a soft pricing
environment in this segment, we'll carry a record number of guests
to the Caribbean this year."
Carnival reported a
net profit of $283 million on revenues of $2.69 billion for its
first quarter, which ended Feb. 28. Net income for first-quarter
2006 was $251 million on revenues of $2.46 billion.
Revenues increased
9.1%, driven by a 7.4% increase in cruise capacity and a 1.7%
increase in gross cruise revenue yields, Carnival said. Net revenue
yields for the first quarter of 2007 increased marginally compared
to the prior year. In addition, Carnival said its cruise costs for
first-quarter 2007 increased 1.3% over the same period of
2006.
Arison also said that
the first quarter continued the trend seen in recent quarters, of
strong growth in cruise revenue yields from the company's European
cruise brands offsetting pricing weakness in the
Caribbean.
Carnival said that
bookings from the beginning of January through Feb. 4 were up in
the Caribbean over last year, but less than its 2007 capacity
increase. Since that time, the company said it has noted a
significant increase in booking volumes over the prior year with
the increase well above the 2007 capacity increase, especially for
Carnival Cruise Lines' Caribbean programs, although pricing is
below last year's levels.
"Booking trends for
the Caribbean over the past few weeks indicate that consumers are
recognizing the extraordinary value of warm water cruises," said
Arison.
Carnival noted that
occupancy for advance bookings taken for the last nine months of
2007 is slightly ahead of last year, but that pricing is down
2%.
The company expects
net revenue yields for 2007 to be flat to up about 1% to 2%
compared to 2006 and net cruise costs for the year are expected to
be flat to down about 1% to 2%.compared to 2006.
Fuel costs are
expected to be lower than in 2006, at about $318 per metric ton
compared to an average price of $341 per metric ton for the last
nine months of 2006.
For the second
quarter of 2007, Carnival expects net revenue yields to be down
about 2% to 3% and cruise costs to be the same.
To
contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].