Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings still remains in the red since the pandemic shut down the cruise industry in early 2020, but its third-quarter results have just beaten Wall Street’s expectations.
The New York-listed owner of 29 passenger ships reported a net loss of $295m on Tuesday, compared with a net loss of $846m for the same three months last year.
It posted an adjusted net loss of $268m versus an adjusted net loss of $801m a year earlier.
The Miami-based owner recorded a $0.70 diluted loss per share, exceeding analyst consensus of a $0.71 loss per share and improving on the $2.29 figure for last year’s third quarter.
Adjusted loss per share came in at $0.64, versus $2.17 in 2021.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $1.62bn, vastly improving on year-ago revenue of $153m.
The company is still moving forward financially despite the losses, according to chief executive Frank Del Rio.
“We are demonstrating continued positive momentum as we consistently reach key operational and financial milestones, including positive adjusted Ebitda in the third quarter for the first time since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
Norwegian said one of its goals is to return to adjusted net profit in 2023.
Its advance ticket sales balance was $2.5bn at the end of the third quarter, including about $260m in future cruise credits.
But because Norwegian returned its fleet to sailing, operating costs were much higher than a year ago, coming in at $1.24bn for the quarter, against $440m a year earlier.
Fuel costs rose to $187m from $79m, partly due to year-over-year bunker prices growing to $830 per tonne from $693 per tonne.
Debt stood at $13.9bn as of 30 September, while liquidity was about $2.2bn — $1.2bn in cash and $1bn in undrawn loans.
Norwegian expects to continue losses into the fourth quarter as a result of the pandemic, effects of the war in Ukraine and macroeconomic conditions.
