zoomImage Courtesy: Carnival Cruise Line

Miami-headquartered cruise company Carnival Corporation & plc has reported a net income of USD 605 million for the second quarter of 2016, compared to a net income of USD 222 million seen in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues for the corresponding periods were USD 3.7 billion compared to USD 3.6 billion.

“Our strong second quarter demonstrates continued momentum as we again achieved a near doubling of adjusted earnings per share. Our ongoing effort to drive demand for our brands in excess of our measured capacity growth has led to increased revenues and helped maintain the mid-point of our full year earnings guidance despite the recent currency movements and rises in fuel prices that combined represent a negative USD 0.17 per share,” Carnival Corporation & plc President and CEO Arnold Donald, said.

Carnival Corporation said that the cumulative advance bookings for the remainder of the year are currently “well ahead of the prior year at slightly higher prices.”

Since March, bookings for the remainder of the year are at higher prices with volumes running lower than last year because there is less inventory remaining for sale than at this time in 2015.

The company expects full year 2016 net revenue yields on a constant currency basis to be up approximately 3.5 percent versus the prior year, compared to March guidance of approximately 3 percent.

“This is shaping up to be another strong year for our company as we expect over 20 percent earnings growth and are approaching a nine percent return on invested capital,” Donald said, adding that the company raised its dividend by 17 percent to over USD 1 billion per year.

“Since October, we have repurchased nearly USD 1.9 billion in shares under our stock repurchase program. Yesterday, our Board of Directors approved our third USD 1 billion share repurchase authorization demonstrating confidence in our outlook and reinforcing our commitment to return value to shareholders,” he added.