Carnival Forecasts Average Bunker Price to Rise 32% in 2017

Carnival says changes in fuel prices contributed to a fall in earnings.

Carnival Corporation & plc (Carnival) is forecasting the average price it pays for bunkers in 2017 to rise by 32 percent year-on-year.

Writing in its latest full year 2016 financial results, the cruise giant said its fuel price per metric tonne (pmt) expectation for FY2017 is $374/mt, compared to a $283/mt average for the 12 months to November 2016, with the increase expected to add about $200 million to its annual bunker bill.

The price prediction for 2017 is, however, lower than the $393/mt average seen in FY2015.

Carnival says it expects bunker consumption for 2017 to rise slightly to 3,290,000 mt, compared to 3,233,000 mt in 2016.

Looking back at 2016, Carnival President and CEO Arnold Donald said it was "the most profitable year in our company's history as well as record fourth quarter earnings."

Carnival reported a U.S. GAAP net income for the full year 2016 of $2.8 billion, compared to $1.8 billion in 2015, and a full year 2016 adjusted net income of $2.6 billion, up from $2.1 billion in 2015.

The company's fuel costs for the full 12 month period to November 2016 for the 3,233,000 mt consumed was $915 million, compared to $1,249 million for the 3,181,000 mt consumed in the same period of 2015.

"We are anticipating another solid year of operational improvement in 2017," said Donald.

"Despite the unusual and significant impact of fuel and currency working against us simultaneously, the underlying strength in our fundamental business leaves us well positioned to achieve sustained double digit return on invested capital and to create continued value for our shareholders."