Carnival Corp has achieved a profit for the first time since it started to bring back cruises in June 2021 after a 15-month hiatus as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The New York-listed cruise ship operator posted $1.07bn in net profit for the third quarter on Friday, up from a $770m net loss recorded during the same period last year.
“We delivered over $1bn to the bottom line with revenue reaching an all-time high,” chief executive Josh Weinstein said in a statement.
“Both revenue and earnings significantly exceeded expectations this quarter enabling us to take up expectations for the year.”
On an adjusted basis, Miami-based Carnival registered a $1.18bn profit for the quarter that included $81m earned from reducing debt, up from $688m in net loss a year ago.
The cruise behemoth posted $0.86 in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the third quarter, up from $0.58 in adjusted loss per share during the third quarter of 2022. Third-quarter adjusted EPS beat analyst consensus by $0.11 per share.
Third-quarter revenue totalled $6.85bn, up from $4.31bn for the year-ago period.
“I continue to be encouraged with our revenue trajectory heading into next year as we see no signs of slowing from our consumers,” Weinstein said.
As of 31 August, Carnival had $29.5bn in debt, having lowered it by $4bn in the last six months, Weinstein said. The debt may rise in the near term, however, as the company continues to pay interest costs.
“With improving performance, growing operating cash flows and $5.7bn of liquidity, we are on a path to end the year with less than $31bn of debt,” Weinstein said.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2023 ended 31 August, Carnival posted $26m in net loss, up from $4.5bn in net loss for the same time frame in 2022.
Revenue for this period totalled $16.2bn, up from $8.33bn in revenue collected during the first nine months of fiscal 2022.
