MIAMI – Carnival Corp. said Thursday that it lost more than $ 2 billion in the most recent quarter as the company’s cruise lines remained largely closed due to the pandemic, but bookings for next year are ahead of the 2019 pace.
The Miami-based company’s shares fell 2.5%.
The cruise industry was a visible early victim of the pandemic as passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19 and some ships were turned away from ports. The industry has fought against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the health requirements for resuming sailing in U.S. waters.
CEO Arnold Donald said the company had long known that 2020 and even early 2021 would be “choppy, but the way and the trend are clear – there is some catching up to do,” which is reflected in the booking numbers.
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Carnival, which has nine cruise subsidiaries including Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line, said bookings for the March to May quarter were up 45% quarter over quarter and that cumulative bookings for 2022 are before 2019.
The company plans to resume restricted US operations with trips from Florida, Texas, and Washington state in July and August.
Donald said in an interview that most passengers will be vaccinated, but “there will be unvaccinated people on board who will have to go through tests and other protocols,” including wearing masks and social distancing in some areas.
Carnival expects to have 42 ships by the end of November, which is more than half the capacity of the parent company.
The company said it lost $ 2.07 billion in the quarter that ended May 31, and has lost more than $ 14 billion since the pandemic began. Carnival is still burning $ 500 million a month, but CFO David Bernstein said the company’s $ 9.3 billion in cash and short-term investments are enough to get it back on track.
Bernstein told analysts the company should see positive earnings before interest and other costs if the entire fleet sails at normal load by next spring. But, he said, the high cost of resuming operations and the seasonality of the cruises make it difficult to predict when the company will break even.
