Carnival PLC on Friday announced a pretax profit for its first financial quarter as revenue climbed and it noted that bookings for 2026 ‘were up double digits.’
The Miami, Florida-based cruise operator said it swung to a pretax profit of $280 million in the first financial quarter that ended on February 28, from a loss of $68 million a year ago.
Diluted earnings per share were 19 US cents, compared to a loss of 6c.
Revenue rose 6.1% to $6.17 billion from $5.80 billion. Total cruise and tour operating expenses increased 4.6% to $3.94 billion from $3.77 billion.
Carnival noted that cruise costs per available lower berth day increased 4.9% in the first quarter.
The company board approved an initial $2.5 billion share buyback programme. Due to legal requirements, the programme will start after meetings of shareholders expected to be held on April 17. The programme does not have an expiration date.
Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein said: ‘Initiating an opportunistic buyback program reflects our strong and growing free cash flow generation and ongoing commitment to return value to our shareholders. With more than $800 million in total dividend distributions expected this year, our newly authorized share buyback program, and a roadmap to delivering approximately $14 billion to our shareholders through 2029, we continue to demonstrate confidence in our operating performance, our focus on disciplined capital allocation and our commitment to accelerating shareholder returns.’
Chief Executive Officer Josh Weinstein said: ‘We delivered a strong start to the year, with record first-quarter operating results that exceeded our guidance, driven by healthy fundamentals and solid execution across the business. This performance supported an increase to our full year operational outlook of nearly $150 million, helping to mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.’
CEO Weinstein added that ‘Bookings for 2026 were up double digits, which further pulled forward our already record booked position for the remainder of the year at historically high prices [in constant currency]’.
Further, he said that nearly 85% of 2026 are already on the books with a smaller amount of inventory available compared to this time last year. ‘We are well positioned to deliver yield improvement in the back half of the year. Continued demand strength is also clearly reflected in higher first quarter onboard revenues and an acceleration in pre-cruise onboard sales,’ CEO Weinstein said.
The firm expects the purchased Brent price of fuel for the month of March and early April to average $90 per barrel, and for that to fall to $85 for the rest of April and May and to further reduce to $80 for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Carnival shares were 2.8% lower at 1,841.50 pence each on Friday afternoon in London.
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.