Lindblad Expedition Holdings, Inc. the US based and listed expedition cruise operator, said its net income for the third quarter rose to $9.3 million, $0.20 per diluted share, as compared with $7.4 million, $0.16 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2016 as growth in the expedition market starts to deliver stronger results.
Revenues rose to $87.4 million from $70.7 million and adjusted EBITDA to $23.1 million from $17.4 million
“The $1.9 million improvement (in net profit) was primarily due to the higher operating results as well as lower depreciation and amortization due mainly to the accelerated depreciation associated with the retirement of the National Geographic Endeavour a year ago,” the company said in a statement.
The latest quarter of 2017 also includes $1.7 million of additional stock-based compensation expense primarily related to grants under the 2016 CEO Share Allocation Plan, which provides the group CEO the ability to transfer shares from his existing holdings in the company to eligible employees, as well as $1.4 million in executive severance expense.
Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and Chief Executive Officer, said "Lindblad's strategic investment to expand our capacity to capitalize on the rapidly growing demand for expedition travel has begun to deliver significant returns. Bookings in 2017 are up over 30% versus a year ago and the Company delivered strong third quarter financial growth fuelled by the July launch of our first new-build vessel, the National Geographic Quest, while at the same time maintaining high occupancy levels across our existing fleet.”
“ This is only the first step in expanding our inventory and we are well under way on construction of her sister ship, the National Geographic Venture, which will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2018. We also announced this morning that we have signed a contract for a new, state-of-the-art, polar ice class vessel. This contract includes options for two additional ships and these vessels will enable us to further immerse our guests in unique and authentic itineraries and broaden our ability to build additional shareholder value in the years to come," he said.