Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings reported an expected jump in bottom-line quarterly profit and revealed a forecast for at least 10% growth in adjusted earnings in 2017.
The New York-listed cruiseship owner, which oversees three cruise brands, said it expects to deliver adjusted earnings per share of between $3.75 and $3.85.
That will mark an jump from the 2016 adjusted EPS of $3.41.
"With our strong booked position and continuing momentum we look forward to another year of solid financial performance, including double-digit adjusted EPS growth in 2017," said Wendy Beck, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Norwegian delivered a fourth-quarter profit of $72.2m, a jump from the $38.3m logged in the same period of last year.
Adjusted earnings also improved, with the Miami company reporting $0.56 in adjusted EPS compared to $0.51 last year. Analysts had expected adjusted EPS of $0.55, according to UBS.
Quarterly revenue increased 8.5% to $1.1bn while gross cruise cost grew by 7%.
The jump in the bottom line added to an increase in full year net income, which rose to $633m from $427.
"2016 marks another record year of earnings, continuing our track record of solid EPS growth, which has grown fivefold since 2013, the year of our initial public offering," said chief executive Frank Del Rio.
"This solid revenue and earnings trend is expected to continue in 2017 as we are now in the best booked position in our company's history with pricing slightly above the prior year."
UBS analyst Robin Farley said Norwegian's new guidance for adjusted EPS growth may be below expectations among investors.
"We believe market expectations may have moved above consensus numbers given the higher yield guide from [Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises]," she said.
