Carnival Corporation has recorded an “all-time high” full-year revenue at $21.6 billion as it reports its “record” fourth quarter results.
The parent of cruise brands such as Cunard, Holland America Line and P&O Cruises said it is “nearly two-thirds booked” on 2024, marking the “best booked position” on record and making it “well positioned to obtain another year of record revenues” as we enter the new year.
Chief executive officer Josh Weinstein said European brands showed “remarkable strength” during the fourth quarter of 2023, which ended on November 30.
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Booking volumes during the fourth quarter continued at “significantly elevated levels”, the company said, with booking volumes for the two weeks of Black Friday and Cyber Monday reaching an “all-time high” for that period.
Additionally, pricing on bookings during the fourth quarter were “considerably” higher than this time last year, while occupancy in the fourth quarter was more than 101%, which the company said was in line with its expectations.
Total customer deposits reached a “fourth quarter record” of $6.4 billion, surpassing the previous fourth quarter record set last year of $5.1 billion.
Looking ahead to 2024, the company said it expects to increase its net yields by 16.5% compared to the first quarter of 2023, as occupancy returns to “historical levels”.
However, Carnival Corporation reported an adjusted net loss of $90 million, but said it made debt payments of $6 billion which reduced its debt balance by $4.6 billion compared to the first quarter of the year.
Chief executive officer Josh Weinstein said: “We ended the year on a high note with another record-breaking quarter that exceeded expectations and achieved positive full-year adjusted net income.
“In fact, we consistently outperformed in all four quarters of the year, buoyed by a strengthening demand environment across all our brands.
“We entered the year with the best booked position we have ever seen, and now have nearly two-thirds of our occupancy already on the books for 2024, at considerably higher prices.
“We continue to experience strong booking momentum across the board, with our European brands showing remarkable strength during the quarter with booking volumes running up well into the double digits at considerably higher prices.”
Chief financial officer David Bernstein added: “During 2023, we made debt payments of $6 billion and ended the year with just over $30 billion of debt, which is $3 billion better than we forecasted just nine months ago during our March conference call and almost $5 billion off the first quarter peak.
“And looking forward, we will continue to evaluate refinancing opportunities and opportunistically prepay additional debt. Furthermore, we expect durable revenue growth to drive increases in adjusted free cash flow in 2024 and beyond, which will be the primary driver for paying down our debt balances on our path back to investment grade.”