CUK Q4 2022 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Carnival Cruise Lines Q4 2022 Earnings Call
• Date: December 21, 2022 at 3:00 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Josh Weinstein (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Mickey Arison (Chair)
  • David Vernon (Chief Financial Officer)
  • Beth Roberts (Senior Vice President of Investor Relations)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Constant dollar revenue per passenger cruise day was 2% higher than 2019 for the full year and 4% higher in the fourth quarter.
• Company returned 90 ships to service, reboarded over 100,000 team members, and welcomed back nearly 9 million guests during the restart.
• Reached 99% of 2019 capacity levels during the fourth quarter of 2022.
• Adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD and in constant currency improved from up 25% in Q1 to up 11% in Q4 2022.
• Total customer deposits hit a fourth quarter record of $5.1B as of November 30, 2022.
• Ended the fourth quarter of 2022 with $8.6B of liquidity.

Guidance

• Expect adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2023 to be $250M to $350M with sequential improvement each quarter thereafter.
• Expect to turn free cash flow positive in the back half of 2023 and remain free cash flow positive in 2024 and beyond.
• For Q1 2023, capacity growth is expected to be 3.7% versus Q1 2019 and 3.3% for full year 2023 versus full year 2019.
• Occupancy for Q1 2023 is expected to be 90% or slightly higher, which corresponds to about a 14 percentage point gap to 2019.
• For Q1 2023, expect net per diems to be up 5.5% to 6.5% in constant currency and 3% to 4% in current dollars versus Q1 2019.
• Expect adjusted cruise costs without fuel per ALBD for full year 2023 versus 2019 to be up 5% to 6% in current dollars and 7.5% to 8.5% in constant currency.