Carnival Cruise Line warns of up to $10 million profit hit from Baltimore bridge collapse

Published

1 month ago

March 28, 2024

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Carnival warned that its 2024 earnings could take up to a $10 million hit as a result of the Baltimore bridge collapse, which has halted the cruise line’s ability to access its Maryland port.

Carnival chief Josh Weinstein told investors during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that its ships will temporarily dock in Norfolk, Va., “which should help to minimize operational changes,” The Wall Street Journal earlier reported.

The Carnival Legend ship set sail Sunday for a seven-day Bahamas cruise — two days before the Francis Scott Key Bridge crumbled when it was hit by a container ship around 1:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in what was quickly declared a mass-casualty event.

Instead of returning to Baltimore this weekend, Carnival Legend will end its trip in Norfolk, “and guests will be provided complimentary bus service back to Baltimore,” the company said in a press release.

The next seven-day voyage, scheduled for March 31, will also operate out of Carnival’s Virginia port.

“Guests on the current and upcoming cruises are being informed of this change,” Carnival said.

Despite expecting an eight-figure disruption to its annual adjusted earnings as a result of this diversion, Carnival has yet to factored the $10 million hit into its full-year adjusted profit guidance, which it raised marginally to $5.63 billion for 2024.

Previously, Carnival anticipated raking in about $5.6 billion in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, while analysts had estimated $5.64 billion.

In a news release issued by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore last month, the Port of Baltimore was celebrated as “the best port in the nation” and one of Maryland’s largest economic generators.

In 2023, more than 444,000 cruised out of the port, which generates some 15,300 direct jobs and nearly 140,000 roles linked to port activities, Moore said.

The cruise business has been on the rise post-pandemic.

In the past year alone, Carnival’s stock has run up more than 95%.

The Miami-based cruise operator also reported on Wednesday that its revenues for the first quarter of 2024 surged 22% to a record $5.4 billion.

Weinstein said the company is succeeding in lifting its prices to customers without hurting demand, per The Journal.

He added that customers have also booked more in advance this year than they historically have, boosting Carnival’s confidence that it can max out its ships’ capacities this summer without last-minute discounts.

“Because our assets (our ships) are mobile, we can be very nimble and our team moved quickly to secure a temporary homeport in Norfolk for as long as it is needed,” a Carnival spokesperson told The Post. “We will continue to actively monitor the situation and look forward to getting back to Baltimore as soon as possible.”

Royal Caribbean — which has its own itinerary scheduled return to Baltimore from the Caribbean on April 4 — is close to erasing its pandemic losses, according to The Journal, and boasts 40% more pre-cruise revenue booked as of March 2024 than in the same period of 2023.

However, the cruise line has yet to comment on how the Key Bridge’s collapse could impact that momentum.

Royal Caribbean has only advised that its “closely monitoring the situation” ahead of April 4, when Vision of the Seas is returning to Baltimore from its 12-night Caribbean voyage.

“Our port logistics team is currently working on alternatives for Vision of the Seas ongoing and upcoming sailing,” added Royal Caribbean, which has another trip slated to set sail from Baltimore on April 12.

Technology

How working for Big Tech lost ‘dream job’ status

Published

16 mins ago

April 28, 2024

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Despite blockbuster earnings from giants such as Alphabet and Microsoft, layoffs continue to ripple through the tech industry.

Layoffs.fyi, a platform monitoring job cuts in the tech sector, recorded more than 263,000 job losses in 2023 alone. As of April, there have been more than 75,000 job losses in the industry so far in 2024.

“So instead of rewarding the growth that we saw [tech companies] all pursue years ago, they’re now rewarding profit,” said Jeff Shulman, professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. “And so the layoffs have continued. People have become used to them. Regrettably and sadly, it seems that the layoffs are going to be the new normal.”

Even though mass tech layoffs continue, the labor market still seems strong. The U.S. economy added 303,000 jobs in March, well above the Dow Jones estimate for a rise of 200,000, with the unemployment rate edged lower to 3.8%.

According to Handshake, a popular free job posting site for college students and graduates, the tech layoffs have prompted new workers to seek other opportunities. The share of job applications from tech majors submitted to internet and software companies dropped by more than 30% between November 2021 and September 2023.

“Part of the reason why this is happening is because stability is such a major factor in students’ decisions around what types of jobs they apply to and what types of jobs they accept,” said Christine Cruzverga, chief education strategy officer at Handshake. “They’re looking at the headlines in the news and they’re paying attention to all of the layoffs that are happening in Big Tech, and that makes them feel unstable.”

Mass layoffs have eroded the shine of the tech industry, which is why workers are questioning whether getting a job in the tech industry should still be regarded as a “dream job.”

“For the people who are chasing … a tech dream job, I think keep your options open and be realistic,” said Eric Tolotti, senior partner engineer at Snowflake, who got laid off from Microsoft in 2023. “Don’t just focus on one company and feel like you have to get into that one company because it’s the dream.”

Watch the video to learn about tech workers’ sentiments, considerations for aspiring Big Tech employees, and more.

World

Ireland pledging emergency legislation to send asylum seekers back to UK in wake of Rwanda bill being passed

Published

16 mins ago

April 28, 2024

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Ireland pledging emergency legislation to send asylum seekers back to UK in wake of Rwanda bill being passed

Ireland is pledging emergency legislation enabling it to send asylum seekers back to the UK.

More than 80% of recent arrivals in the republic came via the land border with Northern Ireland, Irish justice minister Helen McEntee told a parliamentary committee last week.

Rishi Sunak told Sky News it showed the UK’s Rwanda scheme was already working as a deterrent after it finally became law last week.

Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said the threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK.

Micheal Martin said the policy was already affecting Ireland because people are “fearful” of staying in the UK.

The former taoiseach told The Daily Telegraph: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”

Simon Harris, Ireland’s latest leader, has asked Ms McEntee to “bring proposals to cabinet to amend existing law regarding the designation of safe ‘third countries’ and allowing the return of inadmissible international protection applicants to the UK”, a spokesman said.

Ms McEntee said she will be meeting UK Home Secretary James Cleverly in London on Monday.

“There are many reasons why we have seen an increase in migration towards Ireland,” she told RTE.

“My focus as minister for justice is making sure that we have an effective immigration structure and system.

“That’s why I’m introducing fast processing, that’s why I’ll have emergency legislation at cabinet this week to make sure that we can effectively return people to the UK, and that’s why I’ll be meeting with the home secretary to raise these issues on Monday.”

People are now “worried” about coming to the UK, Rishi Sunak has said.

He told Sky News: “If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay here, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”

Mr Sunak said the comments from Irish politicians show that “illegal migration is a global challenge”.

“[That] is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe [they] will follow where the UK has led,” he said.

Shadow minister Wes Streeting said it was unlikely a Labour government would bring people back from Rwanda if some are sent there.

“Once people are settled in Rwanda, they’re settled in Rwanda,” he told Sky News, adding it was doubtful that Labour would “unpick that situation”.

Regarding illegal migration in general, he said it required “putting the money that’s gone to Rwanda into the National Crime Agency so we can have proper cross-border policing to tackle the criminal gangs, speeding up the processing of decision-making, making sure we’ve got serious returns agreements with other countries”.

He added: “Those are solutions that can work.”

UK