The boss of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings gave an upbeat projection for the three-brand business and the overall cruise sector while revealing a $39 million rise in quarterly profits.
President and chief executive Frank Del Rio said the company was “well on track” for another year of record financial performance.
This came despite rising fuel prices which cost the company $95.2 million in three months to June 30.
The owner of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises – with a combined fleet of 26 ships – saw quarterly profits grow to $271.9 million from $232.7 million in the same second quarter in 2017. Revenue increased 13.2% to $1.5 billion.
“The continuation of the robust booking environment from our core source markets, combined with the successful execution of demand creation strategies drove higher pricing across all three brands, resulting in second quarter revenue, yield and earnings growth well above expectations,” Del Rio said.
“Global consumer cruise demand shows no signs of slowing as evidenced by solid organic growth and the hugely successful introduction of Norwegian Bliss, whose record-breaking performance surpassed our high expectations. The strong demand environment is expected to continue driving higher pricing in the back half of the year.”
He added: “2018 is well on track for yet another year of record financial performance. Furthermore, robust global demand has accelerated year-over-year gains in occupancy and pricing for full year 2019, which remains well ahead of this year’s record levels across all three brands.
“We have a high level of confidence and strong conviction in our outlook for 2019 and beyond as demonstrated by our recent global redeployment initiatives, the bolstering of our measured growth profile with the confirmation of two additional Leonardo class ships for delivery in 2026 and 2027, as well as the opportunistic execution of $200 million in share repurchases in the quarter, bringing the year-to-date total for share repurchases to over $450 million.”