Carnival Cruises By Earnings Estimates

(RTTNews) - Cruise operator Carnival Corp. & plc (CCL, CUK, CCL.L) reported Tuesday a loss for the first quarter compared to profit last year, reflecting higher operating costs and lower sales.

However, both adjusted earnings per share and revenues topped analysts' expectation, benefiting from relatively robust cruise prices.

The company also provided earnings guidance for the second quarter, below Street view, and tightened its earnings forecast range for the full-year 2014.

"We see progress with our continental European brands and continue to be pleased with Carnival Cruise Lines' pace of improvement. Exciting product innovations and strategic marketing initiatives at Carnival Cruise Lines have driven strong close-in demand resulting in sequential improvement in year-over-year quarterly ticket prices for the brand," President and CEO Arnold Donald said in a statement.

The Miami, Florida-based company reported a net loss of $15 million or $0.02 per share for the first quarter, compared to net income of $37 million or $0.05 in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $2 million or breakeven per share, compared to $67 million or $0.08 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Carnival to report a loss of $0.08 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter edged down to $3.585 billion from $3.593 billion in the same quarter last year, but topped twelve Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $3.56 billion.

Donald noted that first quarter adjusted earnings were better than December guidance due primarily to better than expected cruise ticket prices for Carnival Cruise Lines and its continental European brands, as well as the timing of certain expenses.

For the first quarter, revenues from cruise passenger ticket sales totaled $2.73 billion, lower than $2.74 billion last year, while cruise on-board and other revenues grew to $850 million from $844 million in the year-ago quarter.

Operating costs and expenses for the quarter increased to $3.51 billion from $3.45 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Fuel prices for the quarter decreased 3.4 percent to $654 per metric ton from last year's $677 per metric ton.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Carnival expects adjusted results to be in a range of a loss of $0.02 per share to earnings of $0.02 per share. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $0.07 per share for the quarter.

For fiscal 2014, the company currently projects adjusted earnings in a range of $1.50 to $1.70 per share, compared to the prior forecast of $1.40 to $1.80 per share. Street is currently looking for full-year 2014 earnings of $1.73 per share.

Looking forward, Donald stated, "We are on the path toward improved financial performance. We are working hard to maintain the momentum with additional product initiatives, continuous improvement in our already high guest satisfaction levels and greater utilization of our global scale."

In Tuesday's regular trading session, CCL is currently trading at $38.72, down $1.28 or 3.20% on a volume of 3.11 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock traded in a range of $31.44 to $41.89. CUK is currently trading at $39.50, down $1.04 or 2.57% on a volume of 0.30 million shares.

CCL.L is currently trading on the London Stock Exchange at 2,374.00 pence, down 82.00 pence or 3.34% on a volume of 1.48 million shares.