Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings has exceeded analyst consensus and greatly trimmed its quarterly loss as the owner’s bookings continue to come in beyond pre-pandemic levels.

The New York-listed owner of 28 passenger ships posted a net loss of $159m for the first quarter, making a huge leap from the $983m net loss registered for the same period last year.

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The much better quarterly result was primarily due to first-quarter revenue reaching $1.82bn, up from $522m during the first three months of 2022.

Miami-based Norwegian reported an adjusted net loss of $128m for the first quarter to achieve a significant improvement over the adjusted net loss of $761m a year earlier.

The cruise giant posted an adjusted loss per share of $0.30 to beat analyst consensus of $0.40 loss per share for the first quarter and the $1.82 loss per share recorded a year earlier.

“As we continue to focus on rebuilding our financial track record, we are pleased to report that we met or exceeded guidance on all key metrics in the first quarter, buoyed by the strong consumer demand we are experiencing across our brands,” chief financial officer Mark Kempa said in a statement.

As of 31 March, Norwegian’s advance ticket sales balance totalled $3.4bn, about 26% higher than the prior quarter and roughly 60% higher than the first quarter of 2019.

But the company still has $13.1bn in total debt that it expects to be making payments on to at least 2028, according to its debt payment schedule.

Norwegian is, therefore, focused on boosting profits and continuing its financial recovery from the pandemic as its bookings keep improving, said president Harry Sommers.

“We continue to experience healthy demand across the board as evidenced by our record booked position as well as robust on board revenue generation,” said the executive, who will replace retiring Frank Del Rio as chief executive at the end of June.

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