Fincantieri is back to earning money again as it recovers from the global pandemic.
The Italian shipbuilder on Thursday posted a €7m ($8.3m) profit for the first six months of 2021, rebounding from a €137m loss suffered during the same period last year.
Revenue improved 28% to €3.03bn from the year-ago period, primarily due to Fincantieri's shipbuilding segment returning to full production.
The shipbuilding division, which makes ships for cruise giant Carnival Corp and other majors, earned €2.92bn in revenue versus €2.03bn for the first six months of 2020.
Fincantieri said the pandemic "severely affected" the cruise business but 13 owners predict that 141 vessels will be sailing again by the end of this month.
"The resumption of cruise operations, along with the growing booking trend and the confidence in the main cruise companies demonstrated by the financial markets, shows yet again the sector’s resilience," Fincantieri said.
"Indeed, most cruise operators witnessed an increase in bookings, a trend that is not just consistent with historical ones, but for some operators is actually higher."
Fincantieri expects the shipbuilding segment to have much higher production volumes for this year's second half compared to the same period in 2020.
It plans to deliver six cruiseships this year in total to Virgin Voyages, MSC Cruises, Carnival's Holland America Line, Royal Caribbean Group's Silversea Cruises, Ponant and Viking Cruises.
“In light of the strict protocols put in place to face the pandemic, first of all the vaccination programme, we yearn to confirm our prompt recovery," chief executive Giuseppe Bono said.
"This is shown by the facts we presented today with regard to both the financial results and the outstanding performance in the naval area ... along with our well-known leading role in the cruise industry.”
