After the formal votes we were given a presentation by Arnold W. Donald, President & CEO of Carnival Corporation and PLC followed by questions from the floor. There were a couple of 'points of order' from people who thought we should hear this before voting but nevertheless, here are the salient points:
Revenues $15.884bn, net income $1.236bn, earnings per share $1.59 or $1.96 depending on how you measure them.
10.6million passengers, 3.4m of them new, carried in 100 (now 101) ships with a total nominal capacity of 212,000. 80m passenger cruise days, 700 ports.
Fuel used 3.194m tonnes at $636 per tonne. The drop in the oil price has made little difference to to fuel price hedging and exchange-rate fluctuations.
Food cost $1005m
Passenger ticket revenues $11.889bn, onboard & other revenues $3.78bn, tour & other $160m.
Total assets $39.532bn.
They are committed to reaching double-digit Return On Invested Capital (ROIC). China and south-east Asia is seen as a big future growth area and predicted to be the largest cruise market over time. Carnival are present there through the Costa brand since 2006.
Two new ships in 2014, ten on order, four have been sold.
Advertisng has increased from $526m in 2012 to $625m in 2014 in a multi-brand campaign focused on each brand's specialities.
Insurance received for (Costa Concordia) was $508m in 2012.
There were a mixture of questions from the floor. The meeting was highjacked somewhat by a North-American union who wanted to pressurise the Presisdent on account of him being a board member on 'Crown' (no, I don't know it either) who have a dispute over staffing but nothing to do with Carnival Corp. One lady from 'Share Action' who wanted a commitment for all electricty used on board to come from renewable sources (fat chance!). One request for better perks, most wanted a lunch included with the meetiong. I was surprised that Arnold Donald did not actually know what the shareholder benefits were, he thought it was a reduction in cruise price. One gentleman thught we were P&O ferries.
After the formal stuff I managed to grab a couple of minutes with David Dingle (chairman Carnival UK) who was very friendly and amenable. I managed to get in a few points about the difficulty that single passengers had with saver fares and costs. He knew that Britannia has big problems with the central lifts and suggested that these would be extended at the next refit. I made the point that a software change for the existing lifts would be quick and low-cost and he accepted this readily.
With one or two exceptions I was not impressed with the stature of the leaders. I was expecting something more statesmanlike with more passion and better presentational skills. Perhaps next time they shold appoint me
I hope you found this interesting. Any questions please don't ask me 'cause I'm really not a lot the wiser.
) forgive my ignorance.
I asked them if they had all been to a slap-up lunch before the AGM but they said that their menfolk had been holding meetings all morning. It must be hard at the to.
free tea and cakes!!