*
Q1 revenue of $1.82 bln tops est. of $1.75 bln
*
Q1 adj. loss per share of 30 cents vs loss est. of 41
cents
*
Expects Q2 adjusted EPS below estimates
(Adds analyst comment, updates shares)
By Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Anne Florentyna Gnanaraja Sekar
May 1(Reuters) - Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd raised its annual profit forecast and sailed past
first-quarter estimates on Monday, betting on higher ticket
pricing, pent-up demand and robust on-board spending from
wealthy customers, sending shares of the company up 5%.
Easing of COVID-19 protocols on ships after long periods of
restrictions has encouraged people, especially from the higher
income group, to go on leisure travel while also boosting
spending on various on-board facilities from casinos to spas.
Norwegian, which mostly caters to the affluent, has also
been raising prices of its tickets to offset the impact from
higher costs of fuel and food due to supply chain snags worsened
by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
In February, the company said it expected costs to decrease
towards the end of the year which would boost margins and help
it turn profitable for the first time in three years on
resilient leisure travel demand.
M Science analyst Michael Erstad said he expects Norwegian
to keep trimming operating costs "where it can and where it does
not impact the guest experience".
Rival Carnival Corp posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and beat estimates for revenue in March, shaking off worries of a slowdown in travel demand amid looming concerns of a potential recession in the United States.
Erstad also added the wave season, an important period between January and March where the operators offer special deals and discounts for the year, has been strong and saw improved overall pricing during January to March across 2023 itineraries.
On-board and other revenue during the quarter came in at $613.1 million and made up 33.6% of the total revenue. (Reporting by Anne Florentyna Gnanaraja Sekar and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
