Nov. 1 (UPI) — Norwegian Cruise Line cut its earnings projections during a conference call with investors Wednesday, while also confirming it will cancel sailings to Israel because of the country’s ongoing armed conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
The world’s third-largest cruise line also announced Wednesday it beat its third-quarter earnings projections, crediting strong customer demand.
The Miami-based company’s stock fell at market open Wednesday and was down $0.44 or 3.20%, trading at $13.16 at 1:38 p.m.
The cruise line lowered its expected per-share earnings to 73 cents for the year, down from 80 cents.
Third quarter revenue amounted to $2.54 billion.
Norwegian, which operates a fleet of 19 cruise ships, also pointed to the situation in Maui for its financial situation. The island is still recovering from deadly wildfires in August and has discouraged tourism.
The fires forced the company to alter some of its August itineraries.
“One of the main strengths and differentiators in our industry is our ability to reposition our assets, which is what we’ve done with the heightened tensions in the Middle East,” CEO Harry Sommer told investors on the call Wednesday.
“The safety and well being of our guests and crew members are without a doubt our No. 1 priority.”
Sommer said the company is hopeful the situation in Israel will only have a short-term effect.
Norwegian, which was founded in 1966 in Norway, also lowered its 2023 occupancy outlook to 102.6% from 103.5%.
