Carnival’s 2nd-Quarter Profit May Fall Short

Carnival Corp., the largest cruise operator, said its fiscal second-quarter profit could fall short of the year-ago period because of higher fuel costs and lower prices, sending its shares down as much as 20%. The warning came a day after Carnival pulled out of its $1.9-billion joint purchase of NCL Holdings with Star Cruises, leaving Star as the sole owner of the Norwegian company. Carnival cut prices amid weaker-than-expected demand for cruise vacations, just as the company increased capacity by 6.9% with new ships. Carnival’s earnings in the quarter ending in May had been expected to rise to 37 cents a share from 33 cents, according to the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Carnival and Star made the announcement on the end of the NCL venture after the U.S. market closed Thursday. For Carnival Chairman and Chief Executive Micky Arison, it’s the second failed acquisition attempt in less than a month. Miami-based Carnival shares fell 63 cents to close at $21.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.