Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company, closed the 2025 financial year with the best result in the company’s history.
As the company announced, the Group achieved a net profit of USD 2.8 billion and adjusted net income rose by more than 60% to a record USD 3.1 billion. At the same time, Carnival announced the resumption of dividend payments.
Sales for the year as a whole increased to $26.6 billion, also a record level. According to the company, this was mainly due to strong short-term demand and disciplined cost management. The operating result climbed to $4.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA reached $7.2 billion.
Carnival was also able to significantly reduce its debt. The ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA improved to 3.4 and thus reached investment grade level again for the first time. The rating agency Fitch upgraded the Group accordingly. Overall, Carnival has reduced its debt burden by more than $10 billion since its peak less than three years ago.
Against this background, the Board of Directors decided to resume the dividend payment. A quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share is planned, payable at the end of February 2026.
The positive development continued in the fourth quarter. Net profit amounted to USD 422 million, while the adjusted net result of USD 454 million was significantly higher than the previous year’s figure. Revenues increased to 6.3 billion dollars. At the same time, the Group managed to keep adjusted costs excluding fuel per available under-bed day almost stable.
Carnival is confident about the current financial year 2026. Adjusted net income is expected to increase by around 12%, although capacity will only grow by less than 1%. Net revenue per unit of capacity is expected to increase again. The US group described the booking situation for 2026 and 2027 as “historically strong”, both in North America and in Europe at high average prices.
Group CEO Josh Weinstein spoke of an “exceptional year” and believes Carnival is well positioned for further growth thanks to an improved balance sheet, high demand and more efficient cost structures.
