Norwegian Cruise Line Ends Year on a High Note

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has reported thirtieth consecutive quarter of adjusted EBITDA growth thus closing a pretty successful year.

The company generated adjusted net income of USD 117.3 million in the Q4, compared to USD 77.6 million in the prior year. On a GAAP basis, net income was USD 38.3 million, compared to a loss of USD 25.6 million in the prior year.

“By all accounts, 2015 was a truly successful year for Norwegian – a year which included strong net yield growth driven primarily by the go to market strategies aimed at driving demand that were introduced earlier in the year and the successful launch of the largest ship in our fleet, Norwegian Escape,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

“Our record fourth quarter results, which included Adjusted EPS growth of 42%, driven by a 7.4% increase in Constant Currency Adjusted Net Yield on a Combined Company basis mainly from improved pricing on same fleet operations, demonstrates just how successful our strategies have been,” continued Del Rio.

The company repurchased approximately USD 100 million of its stock under its previously authorized three-year, USD 500 million share repurchase program. As of December 31, 2015, USD 313.5 million remained available for repurchases.

For the full year 2015, NCL reported a 27% increase in adjusted EPS and an adjusted net income of USD 662.7 million compared to USD 480.6 million in 2014. This strong growth follows a 61% increase in adjusted EPS in 2014, which was fueled by the company’s introduction of Norwegian Getaway.

For 2016, as a result of its post-acquisition strategies to drive demand, NCL entered the year in a solid booked position with more than 50% of overall 2016 inventory sold which is significantly ahead of the same time last year. The company said it was seeing this trend continue into next year where the current booked position for the first half of 2017 is approximately 30% higher compared to this time last year on a capacity increase of approximately 5%.

“Our core itineraries in the Caribbean, Alaska and Bermuda are performing strongly and more than make up for softness in the Mediterranean region caused by geopolitical events and incidents in recent months which, when combined with the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, reduced anticipated earnings for the year by $0.10 per share. The strength in our North American destination, as well as encouraging booking volumes for early 2017 give us further confidence in our targets of reaching double-digit return on invested capital in 2016, growing to 14% by 2018, and exceeding $5.00 Adjusted EPS in 2017,” he added.

The company will take delivery of two ships in 2016. Sirena will join the Oceania Cruises’ fleet in March with its first sailing in late April following an extensive, multi-million dollar upgrade and refurbishment. Seven Seas Explorer, the first newbuild for Regent in over thirteen years, will join the fleet in the third quarter.