Carnival Corporation rides high

Carnival Corporation & plc reported record net income of $345 million, or $0.42 diluted EPS, on revenues of $2.40 billion for its first quarter ended February 28, 2005. Net income for the first quarter of 2004 was $203 million, or $0.25 diluted EPS, on revenues of $1.98 billion.

The 21 percent increase in revenues in the 2005 first quarter was driven by a 15 percent increase in capacity and a continuation of the improvement in revenue yields (revenue per available lower berth day) that began in early 2004. Net revenue yields for the first quarter of 2005 increased 7.2 percent compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher cruise ticket prices and onboard revenues and, to a lesser extent, higher occupancy and the weak U.S. dollar relative to the euro and sterling.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of 12 cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia.

Together, these brands operate 78 ships totaling more than 134,000 lower berths with 12 new ships scheduled for delivery between July 2005 and April 2009. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.