April 25 (Reuters) - Royal Caribbean Group on Thursday raised its annual profit forecast for a second time, after record bookings during the first quarter and higher ticket pricing boosted its results.
Shares of the cruise operator rose 2.8% in premarket trade, as the company also beat first-quarter revenue and profit estimates.
The boom in demand for cruise vacations has sustained through high inflation as people opted for vacations at sea over land-based alternatives that are often more expensive.
Half of Royal Caribbean's first-quarter yield growth was driven by higher ticket pricing, with the remainder driven by a combination of onboard revenue rates, higher occupancy, and new ships, it said.
"Demand for our leading brands ... continues to be very robust, resulting in outperformance in the first quarter, a further increase of full-year earnings guidance, and 60% expected earnings growth year over year," said CEO Jason Liberty.
Royal Caribbean now expects annual adjusted profit between $10.70 and $10.90 per share, compared with its earlier forecast of profit between $9.90 and $10.10 per share.
The Celebrity and Silversea Cruises operator carried 2.05 million passengers in the first quarter, nearly 14% higher year-over-year. It also reported record demand during the "wave season" - a period between January and March when operators offer special cruise deals and discounts for the year.
That helped its first-quarter revenue of $3.73 billion surpass market expectations of $3.69 billion, according to LSEG data.
The industry is expecting 35.7 million passengers to set sail this year, a 20% increase from pre-pandemic levels, according to estimates by the Cruise Lines International Association.
Royal Caribbean's first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.77 also beat market expectations of $1.33.
Shares of peers Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival were up 2.4% and 1.6% premarket.
