CARNIVAL Corporation, parent company of Southampton based shipping lines Cunard, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Ocean Village, has reported its most profitable quarter in the company's history, underlining the group's confidence of bumper full-year figures.

Shares in Carnival rose after the company announced record net income of $332m on revenues of $2.3 billion for the second quarter ending on May 31 compared to an adjusted $124m on revenues of $1.6 billion for the same period last year.

These figures are a further indication of the growing strength of the global cruising industry

that has its UK centre in Southampton, generating huge amounts for the local economy and safeguarding thousands of jobs in the region.

The industry was given further impetus with the introduction earlier this year in Southampton of Cunard's 151,400 ton passenger liner, Queen Mary 2, now undertaking her maiden season of transatlantic crossings between the city's docks and New York.

Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation's chairman and chief executive officer, said: "This has been a remarkable quarter. Even with 22 per cent capacity growth, we achieved a 13 per cent improvement in revenue yields.

"This, along with the synergies we realised from the P&O Princess combination last year, contributed to earnings more than doubling during the second quarter compared to last year's comparable quarter.

"This quarter also marks the first anniversary of the merger with P&O Princess and we are very pleased with the progress so far.''

Looking forward Mr Arison said he was extremely pleased with the outlook for the remainder of 2004 as advance bookings were significantly ahead of 2003 levels at this time on a capacity adjusted basis, with pricing showing continuing strength.

"Cruising is an increasingly popular vacation choice,'' said Mr Arison. "More customers are booking further in advance, resulting in a notable expansion in the booking curve for the second half of the year, which is also extending into 2005.''

Carnival Corporation is the largest cruise group in the world with 12 different brands operating a total of 77 ships, with a further eight new vessels scheduled for delivery between November of this year and December 2006.

At least 210 separate cruise ship calls have been booked with the port of Southampton for this year, more than all the other UK ports put together, but already early indications suggest that 2005 will surpass this total as almost 600,000 people use the docks' three passenger terminals.