Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings earnings rose for the second
quarter, powered by stronger-than-expected revenue and pricing.
"Second quarter was great, better than we anticipated.
It's really a number of things," interim CFO Mark Kempa said in a
conference call.
One was the high performance of the company's newest ship, the
Norwegian Bliss, compared to previous ships. The Bliss started sailing in the
middle of the quarter in Alaska.
A second factor was higher onboard spending in the rest of
the fleet, Kempa said.
Beyond that, with the remaining inventory, there was very
strong pricing on close-in bookings.
"It was really coming from all fronts, and not one
particular area," Kempa said.
For the quarter, Norwegian posted net income of $226.7
million, up from $198.5 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 13.2%, to
$1.5 billion.
CEO Frank Del Rio said that as of June 30, the value of
advanced ticket sales was up 26% over the same time a year ago, while stateroom
capacity was up 9%.
Shortly before noon, NCLH shares were ahead 3.6% from
yesterday's closing, with the broader market up 0.5%.
NCLH raised its net income guidance for all of 2018 to
between $1.05 billion and $1.07 billion, including $22 million in expected
expenses and lost revenue from its shift of the Norwegian Joy from China to
Alaska, along with other deployment moves.