(Reuters) – Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings trimmed its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, as elevated fuel costs offset gains from higher ticket prices and resilient demand for cruise bookings, sending the company’s shares down more than 4% before the bell.
Higher expenses linked to food, fuel, raw materials and labor as well as a stronger U.S. dollar have continued to strain profits of cruise operators including Norwegian Cruise Line.
Even though the cruise company raised prices on its itineraries, it was unable to stave off the impact from rising costs including marketing expenditure, which ate into the advantages of a post-pandemic uptick in demand for leisure travel.
The company expects full-year adjusted profit of 73 cents per share, compared with its earlier forecast of 80 cents.
It also said it expects a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of 15 cents per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of break even, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
