Carnival reports record earnings
Carnival Corp. & plc had a record net income of $353 million, an increase over the $294 million reported in the same period last year.
Said CEO Micky Arison:
βIt is a testament to the resilience of our cruise business that despite an approximate 50% increase in fuel costs for the quarter and the worst hurricane season in our history, we were still able to grow earnings by 20% to achieve record results.β
Fourth-quarter revenues were $2.6 billion compared to $2.2 billion in the same quarter of 2004.
Mr. Arison says higher pricing and a continued focus on cost controls offset the $180 million rise in fuel costs.
βAll facets of our business, from contemporary to luxury, performed well overall during the past year,β he said, with guest booking records in all areas.
Based on current bookings, he expects revenue growth of up to 3% next year.
Carnival will take delivery of three new ships in 2006. The new ships will represent a 5% increase in capacity.
Carnival recently announced an agreement with the Italian shipbuilders Fincantieri to build another four cruise ships. Two of those are scheduled to be delivered in 2008 and the others the next year.
The new ships will increase the cruise lineβs capacity 8% in 2007, and 6.4% by 2009.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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