Carnival Gets Q2 Earnings Boost from 41% Lower Bunker Bill

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday June 30, 2016

Miami-based cruise line operator Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival), in its latest 2Q 2016 financials, said lower bunker costs helped the company to stronger earnings during the period.

For the three months ending May 31, Carnival said its fuel costs were $196 million, compared to $333 million during the same period last year, a decrease of some 41 percent.

The savings came entirely from the drop in bunker prices, saying it paid an average of $243 per metric tonne (pmt) over the period compared to $411 pmt during the same quarter of 2015.

Volume burned was almost identical year-on-year at 808,000 mt compared to 810,000 mt in 2015.

Carnival also reported its bunker hedging program faired much better than in the period last year, saying it contributed $171 million to its income compared to a loss of $13 million in the period last year.

Overall, Carnival's adjusted net income during 2016's Q2 was $370 million, compared to $193 million during 2Q 2015.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2016 were $3.7 billion, compared to $3.6 billion in the period last year.

"This is shaping up to be another strong year for our company as we expect over 20 percent earnings growth and are approaching a nine percent return on invested capital," said Arnold Donald, Carnival's President and CEO.

In April, Ship & Bunker reported that Carnival's bunker consumption for the three months ending February 29, 2016 rose 4 percent year-on-year, but overall bunker costs - excluding its costly hedging programme - fell 41 percent.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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