Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping company, has reported an increase in 2Q15 net profit on the previous year.
The company also said it will base a ship of its mass market Norwegian Cruise Line in the Asia-Pacific region in the 2016-17 season.
Group net profit rose to USD158.5 million in 2Q15 from USD111.6 million in the same peiod last year, helped by the USD3.03 billion acquisition of Prestige Cruise Holdings that was completed in 4Q14. Revenues rose to USD1.08 billion from USD765.9 million.
In 1H15, the profit amounted to USD137.8 million compared to USD162.8 million in the same period last year while revenues reached USD2.03 billion from USD1.49 billion.
“The benefits of the combination of NCLH and Prestige are beginning to hit their full stride, resulting in strong earnings growth in the quarter,” said Frank Del Rio, NCLH’s president and CEO, in a statement.
“Many of the strategies we have previously communicated are gaining more and more traction, from the weaving of Prestige’s go to market strategy into the NCLH brand’s pricing and marketing practices, to the focus on adding value for our guests in lieu of discounting, in addition to leveraging our scale to maximise cost efficiencies,” continued Del Rio.
Net yields rose by 18.2% in 2Q15 year-on-year, helped by the acquisition of Prestige, which added the luxury market operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises and the premium market Oceania Cruises to the group, which previously only owned the mass market operator Norwegian Cruise Line.
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“We are leveraging our global worldwide itinerary expertise from Prestige and are excited to expand our portfolio of offerings on the Norwegian brand,” said Frank Del Rio. “These new offerings will include itineraries in the Far East, Australia, and New Zealand, along with a more diversified selection of itineraries in South America, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean,” continued Del Rio.
NCLH will base the 2000 built Norwegian Star that can accommodate 2,348 passengers in the Asia-Pacific region in the 2016-17 winter season. By doing so, it will compete with Carnival group’s Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Crociere, and Princess Cruises mass market brands in the region, as well as with Royal Caribbean International mass market unit of Royal Caribbrean Cruises, Ltd, the second largest cruise shipping group. MSC Cruises, the privately owned Geneva based mass market operator, is also active in the region.
NCLH’s announcement comes as Genting Hong Kong, which once owned NCLH, has gradually reduced its holding in NCLH and stated that it wants to see its remaining holding. At the same time, it has ordered two 150,000 gt mass market cruise ships for its Star Cruises unit that focuses on the Asia-Pacific source and destination markets.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.