In its outlook for the 2014 fiscal year, the company said bookings for the past three quarters of the year were “running slightly behind” last year’s bookings but pricing was stronger. Cumulative advanced bookings for the remainder of 2014 are slightly ahead of last year at higher prices. The company raised its full-year EPS guidance from a range of $1.50 to $1.70 to a new range of $1.60 to $1.75. Consensus estimates call for full-year EPS of $1.72 on revenues of $15.98 billion.
For the third quarter, Carnival expects net revenues to flat to down 1% year-over-year on a constant dollar basis. Adjusted EPS for the quarter is forecast at in a range $1.38 to $1.44, while the consensus estimate calls for adjusted EPS of $1.51 on revenues of $4.93 billion.
Commenting on the better-than-expected quarterly performance, Carnival’s CEO said:
We benefited from effective marketing initiatives, which combined with a gradually improving economic environment, led to revenue yield improvement for our continental European brands in the quarter compared to the prior year and is expected to continue through the remainder of the year. In addition, we achieved a six percent improvement in fuel consumption. … We believe we have reached a positive inflection point for our company as we return to earnings growth in 2014 and work hard to ensure that growth accelerates in the years to come.
Carnival shares were down about 2.5% in early trading Tuesday, at $38.40 in a 52-week range of $31.44 to $41.89. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $42.20 before this report.
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