(Reuters) - Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd raised its full-year profit forecast on Monday, betting on higher pricing and pent-up demand from wealthy customers.
Easing of on-board COVID-19 protocols 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.
Norwegian said occupancy in the first quarter was 101.5%, up from 86.6% reported in the previous quarter.
The company expects full-year adjusted profit of 75 cents per share, compared with its earlier forecast of about 70 cents per share.
Shares of the company were up about 1% in premarket trade.
