NCL Profits Double In First Nine Months Of Year

Norwegian cruise company NCL Holding ASA said on Wednesday pre-tax profits almost doubled in the nine months to September 30 amid firm market sentiment and strong demand. The Miami-based company said third-quarter earnings were negatively affected by between $18 and $19 million due to accidents with two of its cruise liners and reduced demand in the Mediterranean due to the conflict in Kosovo. NCL posted pre-tax profits before extraordinary items of $36.18 million between January and September, up from $18.6 million in the same year-ago period. Operating profits edged lower to $64.3 million from $65.7 million, while revenues grew by 13 percent to $651.8 against $575.4 million. But the figures came in slightly below the market consensus for an operating profit of $70.4 million and NCL closed 1.70 down on the Oslo bourse at 19.30 crowns. "Norwegian Cruise Line experiences strong demand for cruises in year 2000 and bookings for the first quarter of next year are stronger than at the same time last year," the company said. It said third-quarter accounts were hit by charges of $14.3 million, out of a total cost of $17.6 million, following the collision of the Norwegian Dream liner with a container ship off the British coast in August and the grounding of the Norwegian Sky cruiser in Canada. It said the effect of the reduced demand for cruises in the Mediterranean for the Marco Polo vessel due to the Kosovo conflict was estimated between $4 and $5 million. Geir Aune, NCL managing director said the company expected to see continued profits for the rest of the year. "The fourth quarter last year was a big disappointment," Aune said. "We think the fourth quarter this year will show a profit." Aune said for the first quarter next year, 64 percent of the booking capacity was full, against 53 percent at the same time this year. Aune said the Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Dream incidents had cut net revenue per capacity day (yield) of 1.6 percent, compared with last year. "If these ships had been in operation, we would have seen a growth in the yield," Aune said. - (Reuters)