(By Balachander) Cruise company Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) reported a plunge in earnings for the second quarter, hit by losses on fuel derivatives and drop in revenue yields, and its shares retreated 2.08 percent in early trade on Friday.
The Miami, Florida-based company, however, boosted its forecast for the full year after its non-GAAP earnings came in stronger than forecast, helped by revenue yield improvements at its North American brands.
On a non-GAAP basis, earnings per share (EPS) dropped 23 percent to 20 cents, yet breezed past Wall Street expectations of 8 cents. GAAP EPS, including unrealized losses on fuel derivatives of $145 million, fell to 2 cents from 26 cents.
Revenue fell 2.5 percent to $3.54 billion, versus consensus estimate of a 2.10 percent decline to $3.55 billion.
Net revenue yields fell 1.4 percent on a constant dollar basis. Revenue yield rose 1.1 percent, excluding Costa brand, coming in better than its forecast of flat to down slightly. Revenue yield from North American brands gained 3 percent.
Looking ahead for the third quarter, CCL sees non-GAAP EPS between $1.42 and $1.46, while analysts' expect $1.44 a share. The company earned $1.69 per share in the third quarter of 2011. It forecasts third quarter constant dollar net revenue yields excluding Costa to fall 3 percent to 4 percent.
For the full year, the company now expects non-GAAP EPS in the range of $1.80 to $1.90 from prior expectations of $1.40 to $1.70, better than market expectations $1.67 per share. Excluding Costa, the company sees net revenue yields, on a constant dollar basis, to be down slightly.
CCL shares have been trading between $28.52 and $38.83 over the past year.