Carnival Corp (CCL), operater of a cruise company, has recorded a 2.59 times surge in profit for the quarter ended May 31, 2014. The company earned $106 million or $0.14 a share in the second-quarter, compared with $41 million or $0.05 a share a year ago. Analysts on average had predicted net income of $0.02 a share.

Revenue during the second-quarter rose 4.43 percent to $3,633 million from $3,479 million in the last year period.

Gross margin expanded by 88 basis points over the last year period to 29.40 percent. Total expenses as a percentage of revenues increased to 95.73 percent from 95.63 percent in the same period last year. That resulted in contraction of 10 basis points in operating margin to 4.27 percent.

The company posted operating income of $155 million, compared with an operating income of $152 million in the previous year period.

Carnival Corporation & plc president and CEO Arnold Donald noted that second quarter earnings were significantly better than anticipated in the company's March guidance due to better than expected net revenue yields for most of the company's cruise brands, as well as lower than expected net cruise costs.

Donald noted, ''We benefited from effective marketing initiatives, which combined with a gradually improving economic environment, led to revenue yield improvement for our continental European brands in the quarter compared to the prior year and is expected to continue through the remainder of the year. In addition, we achieved a six percent improvement in fuel consumption.'' 

The company expects non-GAAP diluted earnings for the third quarter 2014 to be in the range of $1.38 to $1.44 per share versus 2013 non-GAAP earnings of $1.38 per share.

Cash Flow

As on May 31, 2014, Carnival Corp's cash balance stood at $343 million.

Working Capital

Carnival Corp continued to witness negative working capital. It stood at $5,776 million as on May 31, 2014, compared with $5,731 million on May 31, 2013. The company's current ratio decreased to 0.22 as at May 31, 2014 from 0.25 as on May 31, 2013.

Debt Position

As at May 31, 2014, the company's total debt stood at $9,436 million. The company's total debt accounts for 23.28 percent of total assets on May 31, 2014. Its debt to equity ratio was at 0.39 as on May 31, 2014.

Shares of Carnival Corp declined by $1.18 or 2.99 percent to close at $38.23 on Tuesday.