FTSE 250 group Carnival is gearing up for a record year after a surge in people booking cruises for the first time.
Customers are choosing to holiday at sea rather than spend a fortune on hotels or flights.
Carnival’s bookings hit an all-time high in the first three months of this year, while revenues soared 22 per cent to a record £4.3billion and profits reached £690million.
The number of first-time cruisers rose 30 per cent. With demand greater than ever, Carnival expects profit for 2024 to be more than 30 per cent higher than last year, at £4.5billion.
Chief executive Josh Weinstein said: ‘This has been a fantastic start to the year.’
All aboard: FTSE 250 group Carnival is gearing up for a record year after a surge in people booking cruises for the first time
The shares rose 1.7 per cent, or 20.5p, to 1236.5p.
On the wider market, the FTSE 100 crept up 0.01 per cent, or 1.02 points, to 7931.98 and the FTSE 250 climbed 0.17 per cent, or 33.02 points, to 19,810.66. Takeover frenzy gripped the City once again with a host of deals in the offing.
Shares in DS Smith jumped 10.2 per cent, or 36.8p, to 396.6p as a transatlantic bidding war erupted for the packaging group.
Distribution group Diploma soared 9.5 per cent, or 324p, to 3750p, as it closed in on a £236million deal to buy its US rival Peerless.
The FTSE 100 company, which supplies products such as wires, cables and surgical devices, said the takeover should be completed in the next few weeks.
North Sea operator Ithaca Energy joined the frenzy as it eyed the UK operations of its Italian rival Eni.
The London-listed firm’s proposal will make it the second-largest operator in the region, with Eni to take a near-40 per cent stake in the enlarged group.
The announcement came alongside Ithaca’s full-year results that showed production levels last year were largely unchanged from 2022. Shares increased 2.4 per cent, or 3.4p, to 145.6p.
Sir Martin Sorrell said no ‘credible’ offer has been made for S4 Capital following reports that it rejected bids from its New York rival Stagwell.
The comments came as S4’s revenues fell 5.4 per cent to £1.01billion in 2023 as clients cut spending.
It also unveiled a major boardroom shake-up. Shares plunged 6.9 per cent, or 3.06p, to 41.46p.
An upgraded outlook from CMC Markets added nearly £50million to the value of the stakes held by the Conservative peer Lord Cruddas and his wife.
The trading firm that was set up in 1989 by the former Tory party treasurer and donor expects income to be higher than its previous forecast of between £290million and £310million.
Cruddas and his wife Fiona own 174.15m shares, which is 62 per cent of the company. Shares surged 16.8 per cent, or 31.5p, to 219.5p.
Travis Perkins is on the hunt for a chief executive as Nick Roberts, who led the building supplier for five years, prepares to step down just weeks after it reported profits fell to £70million last year, down from £245million in 2022.
The news lifted the share price 1.2 per cent, or 8.6p, to 735p.
Sainsbury’s rose 3.6 per cent, or 9.4p, to 271.9p after analysts at UBS raised the supermarket’s rating.