Carnival plc (ADR) (NYSE: CUK) stock recovered over 0.3% on June 26th, 2018 (as of 1:09 PM GMT-4 ; Source: Google finance) despite a weak start
During the second quarter 2018, CUK took the delivery of Carnival Cruise Line’s 26th ship in its fleet, Carnival Horizon in March 2018. The company in April 2018 Seabourn took delivery of the 5th all-suite ship in its ultra luxury fleet, Seabourn Ovation. As a result of the strong guest response to sailings to Cuba, Carnival Cruise Line has received approval for more than 20 additional calls, bringing the total to 40 calls to Cuba in 2019, departing from home-ports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Charleston. Also during the quarter, Carnival Cruise Line unveiled the largest, most technologically advanced operations center in the cruise industry. Carnival Corporation & plc has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.45 to $0.50 and reauthorized the share repurchase program to $1 billion. The company has invested over $375 million in share repurchases since the beginning of the quarter, bringing the cumulative total of repurchases to date to over $3.7 billion since late 2015.
CUK in the second quarter of FY 18 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 68 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 60 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 10.4 percent to $4.4 billion in the second quarter of FY 18, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $4.32 billion.
For the third quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of US$2.25 to US$2.29 compared with the prior year’s adjusted earnings per share of $2.29.
For the full year 2018, CUK has slashed its earnings forecast to adjusted earnings between US$4.15 to US$4.25 from its previous guidance in the range of US$4.20 and US$4.40. The forecast is below the consensus estimates of US$4.36. The company is on track to deliver double digit return on invested capital in 2018.
Meanwhile, the company’s latest ship, Carnival Horizon, which was christened by Grammy Award-winning rapper and actress Queen Latifah, features an onboard brewery, a water park, an IMAX theatre and SkyRide, a suspended open-air cycling experience. Its brand portfolio also includes Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises and Fathom, operating approximately 100 cruise ships in total.