Carnival Corporation reports first-quarter earnings

Carnival Corporation & plc has announced U.S. GAAP net income of $352 million for the first quarter of 2017, compared to U.S. GAAP met income for the first quarter of 2016 of $142 million. First quarter 2017 adjusted net income of $279 million compared to adjusted net income of $301 million for the first quarter of 2016. Revenues for the first quarter of 2017 of $3.8 billion were higher than the $3.7 billion in the previous year.

“We are off to a good start, delivering another quarter of operational improvement on top of a very strong first quarter last year,” said Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation & plc president & CEO.

“Our performance was driven by increased demand, particularly for our core Caribbean itineraries, leading to higher year-over-year ticket prices which enabled us to overcome the significant negative impact of both fuel and currency to exceed the high end of our guidance range.”

Highlights during the first quarter included the January announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, of guest experience innovation the Ocean Platform – featuring Ocean Medallion, due to debut on Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess in Nov. 2018.

Seabourn Cruises’ newest ship, Seabourn Encore, also made its official debut which its naming ceremony in Singapore, while the company signed a memorandum of agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to build two new cruise ships. The first is designed for Holland America Line to be delivered in 2021, with the second for Princess Cruises in 2022.

Cumulative advance bookings for the remainder of 2017 are currently well ahead of the prior year, at considerably higher prices. During the quarter, both booking volumes and pricing for the remainder of 2017 have been running ahead of last year.