12:32 PM EDT, 03/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Carnival (CCL, CUK) said Wednesday that the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to result in an up to $10 million hit to its full-year profit while the cruise operator recorded better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results buoyed by robust demand.

Carnival said its fiscal 2024 projections do not include the Baltimore incident's estimated impact on adjusted net income and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A container ship collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, prompting authorities to suspend vessel traffic.

"We proudly sail year-round out of Baltimore through one of our Carnival Cruise Line ships which was scheduled to return this weekend," Chief Executive Josh Weinstein said during an earnings call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. "Fortunately, our team has quickly secured a temporary" homeport, which should help minimize operational changes, he said.

The company anticipates adjusted earnings of about $0.98 per share for fiscal 2024, compared with its prior forecast for roughly $0.93. The consensus on Capital IQ is for normalized EPS of $0.99. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is pegged at $5.63 billion versus the previous guidance of $5.6 billion.

For the three months through Feb. 29, Carnival's adjusted loss narrowed to $0.14 a share from $0.55 the year before, compared with the Street's view for a per-share loss of $0.18. Revenue advanced to $5.41 billion from $4.43 billion, just above analysts' $5.4 billion estimate.

Booking volumes in the quarter reached an all-time high "at considerably higher prices," driven by demand for 2025 sailings and beyond, Weinstein said in a statement. Occupancy was 102% versus 91% in the prior-year quarter. Customer deposits reached a first-quarter record of $7 billion, according to the company.

The cruise operator said it redeemed and retired nearly $1 billion of debt with original maturities in 2027. "Looking forward over the next several years, we expect our robust revenue growth, responsible approach to capital investment, and ongoing efforts to refinance debt at favorable rates to deliver substantial free cash flow which will significantly reduce our leverage and build shareholder value," Weinstein said in a statement.

Carnival expects to post an adjusted loss of $0.03 a share for the ongoing quarter, in line with the Street's current view. Adjusted EBITDA is pegged at approximately $1.05 billion for the period.

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