Carnival In Deal With Fincantieri For Two New AIDA Cruise Ships; Stock Drops

Carnival

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(RTTNews) - Cruise operator Carnival Corp. & Plc (CCL, CUK, CCL.L) on Monday revealed an order for two new ships for its German cruise line, AIDA Cruises, for a new class of mid-sized vessels.

The agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri includes the design, engineering, and construction of these multi-fuel-capable ships. The ships are to be delivered by the first quarters of fiscal years 2030 and 2032, respectively.

On the London Stock Exchange, the stock is trading down 6.6 percent at 1,060.98 pence.

The British American company said that the design details and itinerary information for the new AIDA ships will be announced in the future. The order is contingent upon financing and is expected to be completed later in fiscal 2025, Carnival added.

With the delivery of the second ship, AIDA will have a total of 13 ships in its fleet.

Josh Weinstein, Carnival Chief Executive Officer, said that with this order, the company's newbuild pipeline includes eight new ships, all ready to enter service between 2025 and 2033. These include Star Princess this year and one each from the time period between 2027 and 2033.

"We're maintaining our disciplined approach to growth and strategically directing new capacity to the highest-performing brands in our world-class portfolio like AIDA Cruises and its sister brand Carnival Cruise Line, which now account for seven of our eight ships on order. This growth plan will maximize our returns and allow us to use our strong free cash flow to continue lowering our debt balance and transferring value from debt holders back to shareholders," he added.