Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has upgraded its full-year profit guidance by $75 million to $2.4 billion on the back of a strong summer performance.
The company attributed the improved projection to better than expected third-quarter results and increased guidance for the fourth quarter of 2024.
The parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises reported record last quarter revenue of $2.8 billion, up 11% year-on-year as capacity grew by 4%.
Net income for the three months jumped by more than a third (37%) to almost $475 million.
The performance was driven by strong revenue growth and “continued execution on cost reductions and efficiencies”.
This reflected a similar strong third quarter reported earlier in the week by rival Royal Caribbean Group, with total revenues reaching $4.9 billion.
NCLH said its advance ticket sales balance ended the third quarter at $3.3 billion, a record high and six per cent up on the same period last year.
“With the majority of the new bookings now being made for voyages in 2025 and beyond, the company continues to experience strong consumer demand for its offerings across itineraries and brands,” the third quarter results statement said.
President and chief executive Harry Sommer said: “Our exceptional third quarter results, with record revenue, net income and adjusted Ebitda, surpassed guidance across all key metrics, underscoring the strength of our business, the attractiveness of our product offering across all brands and the superior execution and delivery by our teams both shoreside and shipboard.
“Fuelled by robust demand and our relentless focus on cost control and margin enhancement, we’re raising our full-year guidance for a fourth time and expect 2024 to be our best year for revenue, net yield growth and adjusted Ebitda.
“We now project adjusted Ebitda to be $225 million above our initial guidance, growing 30% year-over-year, reflecting our ability to capitalise on market opportunities while delivering outstanding experiences across our brands.”
NCLH expects to add 13 additional ships across its three brands by 2036, which will add 41,000 berths to its combined fleet which currently stands at 32 vessels