Carnival earnings hit by Red Sea attacks, but says bookings strong

Carnival's annual earnings will take a hit as the cruise line giant is forced to re-route ships that were due to transit the Red Sea up to May this year, the company said on Tuesday, but said strong bookings would offset the impact over the year.

It forecast an impact of 7 - 8 cents per share. Carnival in December forecast adjusted earnings per share of 93 cents for 2024. However, it expects continued strong bookings momentum "to deliver outperformance during the year, offsetting the Red Sea rerouting impact".

Shipping and cruise line operators have been forced to reroute vessels passing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal as the Yemeni militant Houthis continue to attack ships in solidarity with Palestinians currently under attack from Israel.

"Given recent developments and in close consultation with global security experts and government authorities, the company has made the decision to re-route itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands, which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through May 2024," Carnival said in a statement.

"The company has not seen an impact on booking trends due to the Red Sea situation and has no other Red Sea transits until November 2024."

Carnival added that it had "experienced an early and robust start to wave season" with bookings volumes since November hitting an all-time high.

"For 2024, the company continues to have the best booked position on record, with both pricing (in constant currency) and occupancy considerably higher than 2023 levels. In fact, the first half of 2024 is almost fully booked."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com