Cruise group Carnival has given an indication of its expectations for the first quarter of 2008 in a hefty filing with the US SEC. And it seems things are getting worse.
Increased fuel costs, passengers on certain cruises spending less and disruptions to cruises on its AIDAaura ship means the company has cut its expectation for first quarter earnings per share from the 29-31 cents expected in December to 26-28 cents.
In a market which is likely to punish good news for not being good enough, a shortfall in earnings is not going to be welcomed. And so Carnival shares are now down 44p at £20.57.
Elsewhere, there was unsubtantiated talk that a major US bank - said by some to be JP Morgan - was sitting on a huge derivatives loss in Europe. However this idea does not seem to have rattled the market too much so far, and both the FTSE 100 and the Dow are around 50 points higher at the moment. If the rumour proved to be anything like accurate, the reaction would be far more severe. But it does go to show the nervousness out there at the moment, with any bit of speculation spreading like wildfire.
