Carnival Corp. hikes dividend, OKs up to $1bn share buybacks

The news came just ahead of the company's annual shareholders meeting this morning, held this year in New York.

'With $6 billion of cash from operations expected in 2018, we remain committed to distributing cash to shareholders as evidenced by another 11% increase in our dividend, combined with another $1 billion share repurchase authorization,' CFO David Bernstein, said.

Dividend doubled in three years

'In just three years,' he added, 'we have doubled our quarterly dividend and invested $3.5 billion in Carnival stock.'

The dividend will be paid on June 15 to shareholders of record on May 25.

The share repurchase authorization covers both Carnival Corp. common stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Carnival plc ordinary shares traded on the London Stock Exchange. Repurchases will take place in the open market or privately negotiated transactions.