The parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line has filed plans to go public.
Privately held NCL Corp has filed paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to $250 million in stocks to the public.
In its IPO filing, NCL said “we believe that improving leisure travel trends along with a relatively low supply outlook in the near term from the major North American cruise brands lead to an attractive business environment for our company to operate in”.
The filing came as NCL reported third-quarter profits of $93 million for the three months September 30 against $85.6 million for the same period last year.
The results cover the period when the company’s largest ship, Norwegian Epic, entered regular service.
EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] rose by 21.4% in the third quarter to $184.1 million as revenue improved to $634.1 million from $550.7 million.
NCL chief executive Kevin Sheehan said the results were due to the introduction of 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic as well as higher ticket prices.
Net revenue rose to almost $470 million from $390 million.
“Both improved ticket pricing across our fleet and the introduction of Norwegian Epic into regular service contributed to our strong results for the quarter,” NCL said.
The company continues to “keep a razor-sharp focus on our cost discipline and containment measures”.
NCL is held in a partnership of New York private equity giant Apollo Management; TPG, another private equity firm; and Genting Hong Kong.
Apollo bought a 50% stake of NCL for $1 billion in January 2008, and sold part of that to TPG Capital. Asian cruise and gaming company Genting Hong Kong owns half of the company, Apollo holds 37.5% and TPG 12.5%.
The company announced on Monday that it had ordered two 4,000-passenger ships for delivery in 2013 and 2014.