Carnival Corp. posts Q2 profit - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The company (NYSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) said on Thursday that its net incomrwas $264 million, or 33 cents a on revenue of $2.9 billion. That’s down from $390 million, or 49 centxs a share, on revenue of $3.4 billion durint the same quarter last The gainswere offset, in part, by highert fuel prices and the impactr from disruptions of its cruises to Mexico followinbg the Swine flu outbreak, which the companh said cost it about 3 centsd a share. Carnival, based in Miami, has ship departures from Tampa.
The company said that bookin volumes for the second half of the year are 26 percentr ahead oflast year, but are still behinx for the remainder of this year, and ticketr prices are substantially lower as the cruisee line continues to offer deep discounts. "Despite the soft economh and rising ratesof unemployment, we seem to have foun a price point that incentivizes consumer s to book vacations," said Carnival's Chief Operatingh Officer Howard Frank during a morning conference call.
In as oil prices fell belows $50 a barrel, Carnival dropped its fuel surcharge, saying it would reinstate the charge if oil wentabove $70 a However, during Thursday's conference call, executives said that even though pricez have risen above the $70 threshold, they have no plane at this time to add back the fuel The company now forecasts full year 2009 earninge per share to be in the rangre of $2 to $2.10, compared to its previouws guidance range of $2.10 to Shares were up $1.3 0 to $24.35 in morning trading. The 52-week high was $42.39 on 19. The 52-week low was $14.85 on Nov.
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