Carnival CFO Plans to Skip Bond Market as Rates Soar

  • Company has enough cash to address 2023 and 2024 maturities
  • Bernstein looks to pay down debt taken on during the pandemic
The Carnival Valor cruise ship sets sail from the Port of New Orleans on Thursday, March 3, 2022.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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Carnival Corp.’s chief financial officer, David Bernstein, isn’t worried about rising interest rates — unlike other finance executives — as the cruiseline operator looks to pay down its debt rather than refinance it.

The Miami-based business had about $8 billion of liquidity, including cash and borrowings available under its revolver as of late March, up from $7.2 billion a year earlier. That’s enough to pay off the roughly $4.5 billion in debt coming due later this year and in 2024, Bernstein said in a phone interview.