MIAMI, Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) has announced that the board of directors declared a special dividend of $0.50 per share, which is in addition to its previously announced regular quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share already scheduled to be paid December 14, 2012. For the special dividend, the board approved a payment date of December 28, 2012 based on a record date of December 7, 2012.
Commenting on the special dividend, Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, stated, "This additional dividend is in keeping with our previously stated strategy of returning excess free cash flow to shareholders. Looking forward, we remain committed to increasing shareholder returns through a combination of dividend distributions and opportune share repurchases."
Holders of Carnival Corporation common stock and Carnival plc ADSs will receive the dividend payable in U.S. dollars. The dividend for Carnival plc ordinary shares will be payable in U.S. dollars or sterling. In the absence of instructions or elections to the contrary, holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares will automatically receive the dividend in sterling.
Dividends payable in sterling will be converted from U.S. dollars at the exchange rate quoted by the Bank of England in London at 12 noon on December 3, 2012. Holders of Carnival plc ordinary shares wishing to receive their dividend in U.S. dollars or participate in the Carnival plc Dividend Reinvestment Plan must elect to do so between November 26, 2012 and December 7, 2012.
Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Ibero Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and P&O Cruises (Australia).
Together, these brands operate 100 ships totaling approximately 203,000 lower berths with nine new ships scheduled to be delivered between March 2013 and March 2016. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation
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