Shares in Carnival Corporation were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the cruise liner company's third quarter results due out tomorrow.

Last June, in its second quarter results, the company reported earnings of 32 cents per share, down from 33 cents per share in the previous year.

The decline was attributed to a rise in fuel costs of 64 per cent offsetting an eight per cent increase in passenger capacity.

Despite this drop Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said, "Third quarter and full year earnings were expected to make progress over 2009. Guidance of 225 to 235 cents per share was provided, an outcome which would compare with 224 US cents for 2009. Market consensus denotes a buy ahead of the results.

By 15:50 shares in Carnival Corporation were up 3.96 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 2,465.00 pence per share.

FTSE