Carnival plc (ADR) (NYSE: CUK) in the first quarter of FY 18 has posted better than expected results and raised their full-year 2018 profit forecasts as the company saw customers pay more for their tickets and spend more on board. As a result, the stock rose over 0.2% today despite the overall market pressure (as of 22 Mar, 1:54 PM; Source: Google finance). In 1Q 2018, the company has posted the net income attributable to shareholders of US$391mln, up from US$352mln a year earlier. The company has exceeded the high end of guidance. This strong operational execution affirmed the company’s efforts to create demand in excess of measured capacity growth and exceed guest expectations once onboard. Further, the company’s guest experience efforts, coupled with the ongoing marketing and public relations programs are accelerating the cruise demand across the board to drive cruise ticket prices higher.

CUK in the first quarter of FY 18 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 52 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 43 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 11.6 percent to $4.23 billion in the first quarter of FY 18, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $4.11 billion.

Moreover, the company’s cumulative advanced bookings for the remainder of 2018 are in line with the prior year at higher prices. Since January, the booking volumes for all future periods have been running ahead of prior year at higher prices.

For the full year 2018, CUK expects adjusted earnings of US$4.20 to US$4.40 per share, compared to the previous estimates of US$4.00 to US$4.30. The company is on track to achieve the double-digit return on invested capital while continuing to return cash to shareholders through ongoing share repurchases and dividend growth. The company has invested more than $250 million in share repurchases since the beginning of the first quarter, bringing the cumulative total of repurchases to date to over $3.4 billion since late 2015.

Furthermore, based on current booking trends, the company expects full year 2018 net revenue yields in constant currency to be up approximately 2.5 percent compared to the prior year, which is in line with December guidance. The company expects full year net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD in constant currency compared to the prior year to be up approximately 1.0 percent, also in line with December guidance. Changes in fuel prices (including realized fuel derivatives) and currency exchange rates are expected to increase earnings by 0.10 per share compared to December guidance.