| Carnival bookings down fleetwide

Carnival Corp’s non-Costa
booking volumes have declined
“in the mid-teens” since the
Concordia accident.
THE world’s largest cruise company has cut
its first quarter earnings guidance and expects
the Q1 financial impact of the Costa Concordia
grounding to top US$70m, plus US$46m for
fuel.
For the full year, the loss of use of the ship,
insurance deductibles and one-time costs are
estimated at US$155m-$175m, with an extra
US$230m for fuel.
In a regulatory filing this week, Carnival said
that bookings for its nine other brands
(excluding Costa) fell “in the mid-teens”
percentage-wise, in the 12 days after the
Concordia capsized, compared with the same
period a year ago.
The company did not give guidance on Costa
volumes due to the extensive re-booking
activity since the accident, but said it expects
a “significant” drop.
The company also anticipates further
financial impacts, such as lower net yields,
that are not yet possible to determine.
A revised 2012 earnings guidance, including
these financial impacts, will be released in
Mar.
Carnival reduced its Q1 earnings guidance by
15 cents per share, to a loss in the range of
five cents to nine cents per share, and cut 48
cents to 51 cents off its 2012 EPS, for a new
range of US$2.04-$2.37.
These new estimates cover Costa Concordia
being out of service, one-time accident costs,
higher fuel prices and a small boost from
foreign currency.
However, Carnival management does not
believe the financial losses will last long.
“Despite these recent trends, we believe the
incident will not have a significant long-term
impact on our business,” the company stated
in the filing.
Carnival has extensive insurance coverage
and also self-insures for loss of use, which it
expects will dent its 2012 net income by more
than US$85m, and it also expects to pay
higher premiums for some insurance policies
in the future.
A damage assessment review is currently
underway to determine whether the
Concordia can be repaired.