Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) & Plc (NYSE:CUK, LON:CCL), a dual-listed cruise operator with headquarters in the U.S. and the U.K, said on Tuesday that fourth quarter profits jumped 28% as business improved due to a recovering economy.
In the case of Carnival, two corporations function as a single operating business but are separate legal entities and have different stock exchange listings.
For the fourth quarter ended November 30, the company earned a profit of $248 million, or 31 cents per diluted share, compared to $193 million, or 24 cents per diluted share for the year-ago period. Revenues for the period were $3.5 billion, up from $3.3 billion a year ago.
Analysts expected the company to earn a profit of 32 cents per diluted share on revenues of $3.36 billion.
For the full fiscal 2010, the company reported profits of $2 billion, or $2.47 diluted earnings per share, compared to profits of $1.8 billion, or $2.24 diluted earnings per share for the prior year. Revenues for the year were $14.5 billion compared to $13.5 billion in fiscal 2009.
Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corp. & Plc, said, "All-in-all, 2010 was an encouraging year with improved business trends from a gradually recovering economy. We achieved an 11 percent increase in net income on 7 percent higher revenues.”
During the year, the company also ordered three additional ships, giving it a total of ten ships waiting to be delivered.
Looking to fiscal 2011, revenues are expected to increase on strong bookings volume and higher prices while costs are forecasted to remain flat.
As a result, the company forecasts diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.90 to $3.10.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Carnival Corp.’s share price rallied 3.7% to trade at $44.84 as of 2:23 pm EST while Carnival Plc’s share price rallied 2.8% to $45.10.
Carnival’s Fourth Quarter Profit Jumps 28%
Last updated: 23:32 21 Dec 2010 GMT, First published: 00:32 22 Dec 2010 GMT