Demand for cruising continues to be strong. Carnival's (CCL) first-quarter revenue grew 8% from the year-ago period thanks to a 7% increase in passengers carried and modest price increases. Customer deposits also grew 3% year over year, indicating that forward bookings are still healthy. We expect Carnival to benefit from improving economic conditions as the employment markets slowly recover.
Despite the strong cruise demand, Carnival was unable to keep costs in check for the quarter. Fuel costs rose 13% year over year. As a result, the operating margin contracted 200 basis points to 7%. Fuel prices may continue to rise as the significant expansionary monetary measures taken in the recession begin to have a greater effect. We believe cruise lines will continue their past policy of passing these costs on to end consumers via fuel surcharges on their tickets. Carnival's first-quarter results were in line with our expectations, and we are leaving our fair value estimate unchanged.
Warren Miller is an equity analyst with Morningstar.
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