Carnival warns on profits, shares sink

The profit warnings just kept on coming on Thursday, with cruise operator Carnival the latest to throw its hat in the ring, cautioning that higher fuel prices would dent earnings.

The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of between $4.23 and $4.27 for 2019, down from previous guidance of between $4.25 and $4.35. It pinned the blame on increased fuel prices caused by geopolitical events.

Carnival pointed to a $0.08 impact from the recent spike in fuel prices. Oil prices surged earlier this month following drone attacks on two Saudi Arabian oil facilities.

Chief executive officer Donald Arnold Donald said: "As a truly global cruise company, with nearly 50 percent of our guests sourced outside of the US, we are facing a number of current headwinds, including weakening economies affecting our Europe & Asia segment, a strong dollar and of course, the IMO 2020 regulations, and we are working to mitigate them.

"We have taken actions to bring capacity in Southern Europe more in line with demand, reflecting the current conditions which have been heavily influenced by ongoing economic malaise, the uncertain geopolitical environment and recent trends in consumer confidence. We have also made close-in deployment changes, including those made to address the recent situation in the Arabian Gulf, which has had an impact on recent booking trends and ticket prices."

It wasn't all doom and gloom, however, with revenue in the third quarter coming in at $6.5bn, up from $5.8bn the year before, and adjusted earnings per share of $2.63, up from $2.36.

At 1530 BST, the shares were down 7.4% to 3,379p.