NCL Sees Record Earnings Despite Cuba Sanctions

U.S. cruise shipping company Norwegian Cruise Line delivered record second quarter 2019 results despite the cessation of “premium-priced Cuba sailings” in early June.

The company generated GAAP net income of USD 240.2 million compared to USD 226.7 million in the prior year.

Revenue was up by  9.3% to USD 1.7 billion compared to USD 1.5 billion in 2018. The change was primarily attributed to an increase in capacity days as a result of the addition of Norwegian Bliss to the fleet in 2018 along with an increase in net yield driven by the repositioning of Norwegian Joy to North America, robust onboard spending along with strong growth in organic pricing across all core markets.

NCL said that the full year adjusted EPS is now expected to be in the range of USD 5.00 to USD 5.10, inclusive of a USD 0.45 adverse impact from the abrupt change in federal regulations surrounding cruises to Cuba and a USD 0.07 impact from a technical issue on Norwegian Pearl in July.

“Continued robust demand for our global brands along with our strong consumer focused value proposition, honed revenue management practices and best guest marketing strategy, enabled us to continue to drive ticket pricing higher which, when coupled with strong onboard revenue performance, resulted in record second quarter results,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

“The underlying fundamentals of our business remain strong across all core markets, and we continue to expect record financial results in 2019, despite the impact from the change in federal regulations which resulted in the cessation of premium-priced Cuba sailings.”

Looking ahead, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, Mark A. Kempa, noted that the combination of continued robust demand environment, the building excitement for the upcoming launches of Norwegian Encore and Seven Seas Splendor and the march towards achieving its Full Speed Ahead 2020 Targets “is setting up 2020 to be another milestone year.”