By Elias Schisgall
Carnival reinstated its dividend after rising revenue in the fourth quarter fueled record profits for the year.
The cruise line operator on Friday also said that it plans to unify its dually listed companies into one single corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange following a review of its corporate structure.
Under the plan, Carnival plc will delist from the London Stock Exchange to become a wholly-owned United Kingdom subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, while Carnival plc shareholders will receive shares of the latter company on a one-for-one basis.
The company also proposed reincorporating in Bermuda, saying that the restructuring actions would reduce costs and streamline governance and reporting.
Carnival posted a fourth-quarter profit of $422 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with $303 million, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier.
Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings were 34 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting 25 cents a share.
Revenue rose to $6.33 billion, compared with $5.94 billion a year earlier. Analysts had been expecting $6.37 billion in revenue.
Net yields averaged at $200.84 in constant currency, up from $190.53 a year earlier.
The company also reinstated its quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share, to be paid in February. Chief Financial Officer David Bernstein said the reinstatement was enabled by the company's strong financial position coming out of the quarter.
"This decision highlights confidence in our future performance and continued commitment to delivering value to shareholders," he said.
The new dividend, equal to 60 cents a year, represents an annual yield of about 2.1% based on the company's Thursday closing price of $28.33.
The company said it expects net income on an adjusted basis will grow by about 12% in 2026, on less than 1% capacity growth. It is projecting net yields to grow about 2.5% in constant currency, up to 3% when adjusting for accounting changes due to the company's new loyalty program.
For the current first quarter, it is projecting net yields to grow by about 1.6% in constant currency basis.
Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 19, 2025 09:48 ET (14:48 GMT)
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