Carnival Corporation & plc Announces Arrangement of New Forward Starting $2.1 Billion Revolving Credit Facility

MIAMI, March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) (the "Company") today announced that it has successfully arranged a new forward starting $2.1 billion multi-currency revolving credit facility (the "New Revolver"). The New Revolver will replace Carnival Corporation's existing multi-currency revolving credit facility (the "Existing Revolver") upon its maturity in August 2024. The New Revolver was issued by the Carnival Corporation's subsidiary Carnival Holdings (Bermuda) II Limited (the "Borrower") and has an initial term of one year, commencing August 2024, with two, mutual one-year extension options. The new facility also contains an accordion feature, allowing for additional commitments up to an aggregate of $2.9 billion, which is the amount of the Existing Revolver.

"Our new facility enables us to retain the full benefit of our $2.9 billion revolver until August 2024, while building on our base $2.1 billion commitment over the next 18 months. The successful transaction is a direct reflection of our strong bank relationships and confidence in our continuing return to strong profitability, which we plan to utilize as a springboard to deleveraging and returning to investment grade," said David Bernstein, Chief Financial Officer.

The New Revolver will be unsecured and guaranteed on an unsecured basis by Carnival Corporation, Carnival plc and the same subsidiaries of the Company that guarantee the Existing Revolver. In connection with entering into the New Revolver, the Company and its subsidiaries will contribute three unencumbered vessels to the Borrower, with each of these vessels continuing to be operated under one of the Company's brands. 

The New Revolver was co-coordinated by Bank of America, BNP Paribas and JP Morgan. PJT Partners served as independent financial advisor to Carnival Corporation & plc.

About Carnival Corporation & plc

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest global cruise company, and among the largest leisure travel companies, with a portfolio of world-class cruise lines – AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.

Additional information can be found on www.carnivalcorp.com, www.carnivalsustainability.com, www.aida.com, www.carnival.com, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.pocruises.com, www.princess.com, and www.seabourn.com.

Cautionary Note Concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results

Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this document are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions with respect to us, including some statements concerning future results, operations, outlooks, plans, goals, reputation, cash flows, liquidity and other events which have not yet occurred. These statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our business and the industry in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. We have tried, whenever possible, to identify these statements by using words like "will," "may," "could," "should," "would," "believe," "depends," "expect," "goal," "aspiration," "anticipate," "forecast," "project," "future," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "target," "indicate," "outlook," and similar expressions of future intent or the negative of such terms.

Forward-looking statements include those statements that relate to our outlook and financial position including, but not limited to, statements regarding:

Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are many factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. This note contains important cautionary statements of the known factors that we consider could materially affect the accuracy of our forward-looking statements and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial position. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently, and in the future may continue to be, amplified by our substantial debt balance as a result of the pause of our guest cruise operations. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Events and conditions around the world, including war and other military actions, such as the invasion of Ukraine, inflation, higher fuel prices, higher interest rates and other general concerns impacting the ability or desire of people to travel have led, and may in the future lead, to a decline in demand for cruises, impacting our operating costs and profitability.
• Pandemics have in the past and may in the future have a significant negative impact on our financial condition and operations.
• Incidents concerning our ships, guests or the cruise industry have in the past and may, in the future, negatively impact the satisfaction of our guests and crew and lead to reputational damage. 
• Changes in and non-compliance with laws and regulations under which we operate, such as those relating to health, environment, safety and security, data privacy and protection, anti-corruption, economic sanctions, trade protection, labor and employment, and tax have in the past and may, in the future, lead to litigation, enforcement actions, fines, penalties and reputational damage. 
• Factors associated with climate change, including evolving and increasing regulations, increasing global concern about climate change and the shift in climate conscious consumerism and stakeholder scrutiny, and increasing frequency and/or severity of adverse weather conditions could adversely affect our business.
• Inability to meet or achieve our sustainability related goals, aspirations, initiatives, and our public statements and disclosures regarding them, may expose us to risks that may adversely impact our business.
• Breaches in data security and lapses in data privacy as well as disruptions and other damages to our principal offices, information technology operations and system networks and failure to keep pace with developments in technology may adversely impact our business operations, the satisfaction of our guests and crew and may lead to reputational damage. 
• The loss of key team members, our inability to recruit or retain qualified shoreside and shipboard team members and increased labor costs could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
• Increases in fuel prices, changes in the types of fuel consumed and availability of fuel supply may adversely impact our scheduled itineraries and costs.  
• We rely on supply chain vendors who are integral to the operations of our businesses. These vendors and service providers are also affected by COVID-19 and may be unable to deliver on their commitments which could negatively impact our business.
• Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may adversely impact our financial results. 
• Overcapacity and competition in the cruise and land-based vacation industry may negatively impact our cruise sales, pricing and destination options.  
• Inability to implement our shipbuilding programs and ship repairs, maintenance and refurbishments may adversely impact our business operations and the satisfaction of our guests. 
• Failure to successfully implement our business strategy following our resumption of guest cruise operations would negatively impact the occupancy levels and pricing of our cruises and could have a material adverse effect on our business. We require a significant amount of cash to service our debt and sustain our operations. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors, including those beyond our control, and we may not be able to generate cash required to service our debt and sustain our operations.

The ordering of the risk factors set forth above is not intended to reflect our indication of priority or likelihood.

Forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Subject to any continuing obligations under applicable law or any relevant stock exchange rules, we expressly disclaim any obligation to disseminate, after the date of this document, any updates or revisions to any such forward-looking statements to reflect any change in expectations or events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Forward-looking and other statements in this document may also address our sustainability progress, plans and goals (including climate change and environmental-related matters). In addition, historical, current and forward-looking sustainability- and climate-related statements may be based on standards and tools for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions and predictions that are subject to change in the future and may not be generally shared.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc