Carnival’s Credit Rating Is Boosted By S&P After Quarterly Results
- Cruise operator upgraded two levels to BB-; outlook stable
- S&P sees leverage improving to about 5x by end of fiscal 2024
The Carnival Miracle and Panorama cruise ships at the Port of Long Beach in California.
Photographer: Tim Rue/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
S&P Global Ratings upgraded Carnival Corp.’s credit rating two notches to BB- on Friday, a day after the cruise operator posted better-than-expected results, helped by relatively strong bookings and higher prices.
The upgrade is a step toward the company returning to investment-grade status, which it lost in 2020, during the early part of the pandemic. On Thursday, Carnival posted a more than 40% jump in quarterly revenue, and operating income of $384 million compared with an operating loss of $1.135 billion in the same quarter last year.