OREANDA-NEWS. Carnival Corporation & pic today reported its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended November 30, 2015. The results of Carnival Corporation and Carnival pic have been consolidated and include results on a U.S. GAAP and adjusted basis.

4Q and Full Year Highlights

FY 2015 adjusted earnings per share (diluted) of $2.70, compared to $ 1.93 for the prior year

4Q net revenue yields increased 4.1% in constant currency compared to the prior year, better than September guidance, up 3%

4Q net cruise costs excluding luel per available lower berth day ("ALBD") increased 3.2% in constant currency, which was in line with September guidance, up 3%

4Q adjusted net income was $389 million, or earnings per share (diluted) of $0.50, before U.S. GAAP unrealized losses (non-cash) on fuel derivatives of $ 117 million, or $0.15 earnings per share (diluted)

Outlook

At this time, cumulative advance bookings for the first three quarters of 2016 are well ahead of the prior year at slightly higher constant currency prices

FY 2016 net revenue yields are expected to be up approximately 3% in constant currency compared to the prior year, of which approximately 1% is due to an accounting reclassification

FY 2016 net cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD are expected to be up approximately 2% in constant currency compared to the prior year, of which approximately 1.5% is also due to the reclassification

FY 2016 adjusted earnings per share (diluted) are expected to be in the range of $3.10 to $3.40, compared to $2.70 per share in FY2015

IQ 2016 adjusted earnings per share (diluted) are expected to be in the range of $0.28 to $0.32, compared to $0.20 in IQ 2015

President and Chief Executiv e Officer Arnold Donald commenting on these results:

"We nearly doubled our fourth quarter results and ended the year with 40 percent higher earnings. Strong operational execution delivered $0.25 per share higher earnings than the mid-point of our full year 2015 December guidance, despite a $0.10 drag from the net impact of currency and fuel prices. This year we achieved a 4.3 percent improvement (constant currency) in revenue yields compared to the prior year due to higher onboard revenues and increased ticket prices as we have driven demand in excess of capacity growth, while our ongoing efforts to leverage our industry-leading scale helped to contain costs. Our strong performance led to record operating cash flow of well over $4 billion versus $3.4 billion last year."

"As we had anticipated, with less inventory remaining for sale, we have begun to sell at higher prices than the same time last year, particularly close to departure, affirming our expectation of continued yield improvement in 2016."

"We have accelerated progress toward and remain well positioned to achieve our double digit return on invested capital threshold in the next two to three years. Over time, we expect to continue to return excess cash to shareholders as demonstrated by our recent 20 percent increase in quarterly dividends and more than $400 million in share repurchases."