Carnival Corporation & plc Reports Financial Impact of Hurricane Jeanne
MIAMI, Sept. 28, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL; LSE)(NYSE: CUK) today announced that it estimates the financial impact of Hurricane Jeanne on its fourth quarter earnings will be approximately $0.02 per share.
This is in addition to a previously announced impact of $0.03 to $0.04 per share as a result of Hurricanes Frances and other hurricanes earlier this month.
Like Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Jeanne closed several south and central Florida ports, forcing Carnival to shorten the itineraries for six of its brands' cruises -- four for Carnival Cruise Lines and one each for Holland America Line and Princess Cruises.
Guests on abbreviated cruises had the option of sailing and receiving partial refunds and shipboard credits, or canceling and receiving full refunds or future cruise credits.
Carnival's P&O Cruises Australia unit is also reviewing the impact of the closure of the Freeport, Bahamas, dry-dock facility where one of its ships was undergoing an extensive refurbishment. The aforementioned $0.02 per share impact includes the expected cancellation of two more P&O Cruises Australia voyages in addition to the one previously cancelled as a result of Hurricane Frances.
Carnival Corporation & plc also incurred incidental costs to transport passengers to alternate ports of embarkation/debarkation.
"In terms of weather, the past few weeks have been the most challenging in our company's history, with four different hurricanes hitting Florida and two of those causing major disruptions to our operations," said Howard Frank, vice chairman and chief operating officer for Carnival Corporation & plc. "We would like to thank our guests for their patience, cooperation and understanding during this period and commend our employees, both shipboard and shoreside, who continue to deliver quality vacations to our guests despite very challenging circumstances," he added.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of 12 cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia.
Together, these brands operate 77 ships totaling more than 128,000 lower berths with 12 new ships scheduled for delivery between November 2004 and spring 2008. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon, Holland America Tours and Princess Tours. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
Additional information can be obtained via Carnival Corporation & plc's Web sites at http://www.carnivalcorp.com and http://www.carnivalplc.com .
SOURCE Carnival Corporation
CONTACT:
Media, Tim Gallagher of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-599-2600, ext. 16000
or
Sophie Fitton
or Sarah Tovey
both of
Brunswick in the U.K.
+011-44-20-7404-5959
for Carnival Corporation & plc
or
investors
Beth Roberts of Carnival Corporation & plc
+1-305-406-4832
Web site: http://www.carnivalcorp.com
(CCL)
