by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:20 AM ET, Fri September 29, 2023
Carnival Corporation officials announced the company’s
third-quarter earnings and outlooks for the full year and the fourth quarter of
2023.
In the third quarter, Carnival’s United States Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) net income turned positive, generating
$1.07 billion and $2.22 billion in adjusted EBITDA, which exceeded the June
guidance range.
Revenue in the third quarter hit an all-time high of $6.9
billion, while occupancy was 109 percent, better than the company’s
expectations and a return to historical levels. Total customer deposits reached
a third-quarter record of $6.3 billion, surpassing the previous third-quarter
record of $4.9 billion by 28 percent.
“We delivered over $1 billion to the bottom line with
revenue reaching an all-time high,” Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said. “Both
revenue and earnings significantly exceeded expectations this quarter enabling
us to take up expectations for the year.”
Carnival revealed that booking volumes continued at
significantly elevated levels, setting a new third-quarter record for total
bookings, while the cumulative advanced booked position for the full year 2024
is well above the high end of the historical range at higher prices than 2023
levels.
“Our booked position for 2024 is further out than we have
ever seen and at strong prices,” Weinstein continued. “With less remaining
inventory to sell, despite a five percent increase in capacity, we are well
positioned to drive pricing higher and deliver strong yield improvement in
2024.”
For the fourth quarter of 2023, the company expects adjusted
EBITDA of $800-$900 million and net yields to increase compared to 2019, with
occupancy in line with historical levels and net per diems up 7-8 percent.
As for the full year 2023 outlook, Carnival expects an
adjusted EBITDA of $4.1-$4.2 billion, occupancy of 100 percent or higher, adjusted
cruise costs excluding fuel at the high end of June guidance range and fuel
consumption to be nearly 16 percent lower than 2019.
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