Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping group, forecasts its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to rise to the bracket of $5.90 to $6.10 in 2016 from $4.83 reported for 2015, but the forecast falls short of the $6.21 of cruise industry analysts
“Taking into account current fuel pricing, interest rates, currency exchange rates and the factors detailed above, the company currently estimates 2016 Adjusted EPS will be in the range of $5.90 - $6.10 per share,” the company said in a statement.
It added that over the past several months the dollar has continued to strengthen relative to our basket of currency exposures, while fuel prices have lowered – resulting in a negative $0.14 impact to earnings per share for 2016. Additionally, interest rates have recently increased, which are negatively impacting earnings by $0.06 per share.
“Our booked position for 2016 is roughly equal to last year’s record high, and at higher rates. Continued strength from North American consumers is driving strong demand for North American products such as Caribbean, Alaska, and Bermuda which represent over 50% of capacity for the year,” RCCL said.
“These North American products combined with strong demand for Northern Europe and Asia sailings are expected to more than offset current pricing challenges impacting the Mediterranean, Australia and Brazil,” the company continued.
The company expects a Net Yield increase in the range of 2.0% to 4.0% on a Constant- Currency basis and flat to up 2% on an As-Reported basis for the full year. Net cruise costs (NCC) excluding fuel are expected to be up 1% or less on a Constant-Currency basis and up 0.5% or less As-Reported, RCCL stated.
