Lindblad Expeditions has just managed to post a profit for this year’s first quarter, thanks in great part to beyond doubling its revenue as it puts the pandemic in its wake.

The cruise ship operator, which is listed and based in New York, reported $778,000 in net income for the first three months of 2023, making an improvement from the $42.2m loss registered during the same period in 2022.

Lindblad Expeditions prices $275m in bonds at 9% interest
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Lindblad’s first-quarter revenue came in at $143m, beating the top-line result from a year earlier by 111%. Revenue for the cruise segment improved 130% to $116m, while the land segment revenue jumped 59% to $27.9m.

“Lindblad is off to a great start in 2023 as the momentum we have generated since emerging from the pandemic continued in earnest during the first quarter,” chief executive Dolf Berle said in a statement.

The company posted a $400,000 loss available to shareholders for the first quarter, up substantially from the $43m loss available to stockholders in the first quarter of 2022.

The results translated into a $0.01 loss per share for the quarter that beat analyst consensus of $0.20 loss per share and far exceeded the $0.85 loss per share recorded a year earlier.

As of 31 March, the company’s total debt position stood at $560m, but the owner was in compliance with all debt covenants.

Lindblad has since sold $275m in 9% senior secured notes that will mature in 2028 to pay off debt tied to former export credit agreements.

The owner expects to earn between $550m and $575m in revenue for all of 2023 and thus achieve adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation between $70m and $80m for the year.

By comparison, Lindblad earned $422m in revenue for full-year 2022 but reported $11.5m in adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the whole year.

Lindblad expects better full-year results for 2023 partly because its cruise bookings for this year are 45% ahead of where they were for full-year 2019 on the same date.

“The company has substantial advance reservations for future travel with strong gross bookings, partially offset by short-term cancellations,” Lindblad said.

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