Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIND; "Lindblad", the "Company"), a global provider of expedition cruises and adventure travel experiences, today reported its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. 

Lindblad also announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has approved a $20 million stock and warrant repurchase plan, which authorizes the Company to purchase its stock and warrants from time to time.

Lindblad's Financial Highlights for the Third Quarter and First Nine Months of 2015

• Lindblad generated tour revenue of $58.6 million in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of $7.1 million or 13.8% compared to the prior year quarter
• Tour revenue for the first nine months of 2015 amounted to $163.5 million, an increase of $9.8 million or 6.4% compared to the prior year period
• Net Yield for the third quarter was $935.21 compared to $950.02 in the prior year quarter, and $966.09 in the first nine months of 2015 compared to $964.61 in the prior year period
• Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $15.8 million, a 16.2% increase from $13.6 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $42.1 million for the first nine months of 2015, an 8.8% increase from $38.7 million in the prior year period

Review of Lindblad's Third Quarter 2015 Results

"The Company continued to post excellent results in the third quarter, driven specifically by the strong performance of the owned and chartered fleet, supplemented by additional charter inventory and a slight increase in departures of the owned vessels. We were pleased to see tour revenue and Adjusted EBITDA grow 13.8% and 16.2%, respectively, compared to the prior year quarter, and we remain confident in the outlook for the rest of the year," said Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lindblad.  "These results also demonstrate the resilience of our business as we made up for weak demand in Australia related to the downturn in the Australian economy and currency by successfully refocusing on our core U.S. market."    

Tour revenue in the third quarter amounted to $58.6 million, compared to $51.5 million in the third quarter in 2014 which represents an increase of $7.1 million or 13.8%. The growth was primarily driven by $5.7 million higher guest ticket revenues derived from an increase in the number of voyages, both on chartered and owned vessels, as well as the timing of dry docks in 2015 when compared to 2014. This increase was partially offset by slightly lower occupancy for the fleet, a 2.5% change, primarily related to the National Geographic Orion in the Kimberley season in Australia and on its Indonesian and South Pacific itineraries. As part of the redeployment of this vessel, these voyages will not be repeated in 2016.  Tour revenues for the first nine months of 2015 increased 6.4% compared to the prior year, to $163.5 million from $153.7 million in the first nine months of 2014.

Net Yield in the quarter amounted to $935.21 compared to $950.02 in the third quarter of 2014, which represents a decrease of 1.6%, related to the decrease of occupancy in the quarter as well as an increase in commissions and incentives.  Lindblad recorded 48,200 Guest Nights Sold in the third quarter of 2015, 5,817 guests, and an occupancy rate of 90.5%.  Net Yield for the first nine months of 2015 amounted to $966.09 compared to $964.61 in the prior year period.

Adjusted Net Cruise Cost per Available Guest Night amounted to $637.90 in the third quarter of 2015, compared to $660.60 in the same period in the prior year, which represents a decrease of 3.4%. The decrease in Adjusted Net Cruise Cost per Available Guest Night was primarily driven by a reduction in the cost of fuel in the third quarter of 2015 compared to 2014 and a decrease in dry dock costs and related fleet expenses for the owned fleet due to improved cost controls. Adjusted Net Cruise Cost per Available Guest Night amounted to $674.84 for the first nine months of 2015 compared with $683.63 for the same time period in 2014.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 16.2% in the third quarter of 2015 to $15.8 million compared to $13.6 million in the same period in 2014. Adjusted EBITDA increased 8.8% in the first nine months of 2015 to $42.1 million compared to $38.7 million in the first nine months of 2014.  A reconciliation between Adjusted EBITDA and GAAP net income is included in the accompanying financial data.

Full Year 2015

The Company continues to be confident it will achieve the 2015 financial projections set forth in the investor presentation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on April 1, 2015 which projected revenue of $204 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $45 million for the full year of 2015.

Ian Rogers, the Company's Chief Financial and Operating Officer also added: "We continue to see early indicators of a strong booking pace for 2016 with 63% of ticket revenue for the 2016 financial year on the books as of October 15, 2015, compared with 61% at the same time in 2014 for the 2015 financial year."

Fleet Expansion

During the third quarter of 2015, the Company signed a non-binding letter of intent to build two new coastal vessels with expected deliveries on target for the second quarter of 2017 and 2018. The Company paid a $4 million non-refundable slot fee to reserve a shipyard's capacity for the purpose of these builds.  Negotiations of the final contract based on the letter of intent are ongoing and the build is expected to commence in the fourth quarter.  "We are deep in final details for the new U.S. flagged vessels for delivery in 2017 and 2018. As mentioned before, these two new 100-passenger ships will be deployed in geographies complementary to our existing U.S. coastal vessels where demand is strong," said Sven-Olof Lindblad.  "We also continue to explore a range of acquisition opportunities that we believe would be accretive to our planned newbuild expansion." 

Stock and Warrant Repurchase Plan

The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a $20 million stock and warrant repurchase plan. This plan authorizes the Company to purchase from time to time the Company's outstanding common stock and warrants through open market repurchases in compliance with Rule 10b-18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and/or in privately negotiated transactions based on market and business conditions, applicable legal requirements and other factors. Any shares and warrants purchased will be retired. The plan has no time deadline and will continue until otherwise modified or terminated by the Company's Board of Directors at any time in the Company's sole discretion.

"We have significant available liquidity beyond the planned investment in the expansion of our fleet and we have established this repurchase program to have the flexibility to opportunistically buy back our stock or warrants and thereby maximize stockholder returns," said Ian Rogers.  

New Chief Financial Officer

On October 28, 2015, the Company announced it had named John McClain as its Chief Financial Officer.  He will join Lindblad on November 10, 2015.   Mr. McClain brings a long history of leadership positions in a wide range of public companies, most recently serving as the chief financial officer of The Jones Group Inc. until its sale to Sycamore Partners in April 2014. Prior to Jones, he held senior positions at Avis Budget Group, Inc., Cendant Corporation, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., ITT Corporation and Arthur Andersen & Co.

Current Chief Operating Officer Ian Rogers, who previously also held the CFO title, will continue as COO and be focused on driving Lindblad's existing operations and its significant growth initiatives.

Mark D. Ein, Chairman of Lindblad said, "We are excited to welcome John to the leadership team at Lindblad. He brings significant public company, financial market and M&A expertise that will be highly valuable to the Company as we execute our plan to grow the platform through an expansion of the fleet and opportunistically seeking compelling strategic acquisitions."

Conference Call Scheduled

The Company has scheduled a conference call at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on November 9, 2015 to discuss the earnings of Lindblad.  The conference call can be accessed by dialing (844) 378-6487 (United States), (855) 669-9657 (Canada) or (412) 542-4182 (outside the U.S.).  A replay of the call will be available at the Company's investor relations website, investors.expeditions.com.

About Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc.

Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. is an expedition travel company that works in partnership with National Geographic to inspire people to explore and care about the planet. The organizations work in tandem to produce innovative marine expedition programs and to promote conservation and sustainable tourism around the world. The partnership's educationally oriented voyages allow guests to interact with and learn from leading scientists, naturalists and researchers while discovering stunning natural environments, above and below the sea, through state-of-the-art exploration tools.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS 

Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include our financial projections and may also generally be identified as such because the context of such statements will include words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe the Company's financial guidance or future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those expected, including, but not limited to, the following: (i) changes adversely affecting the business in which we are engaged; (ii) management of our growth and our ability to execute on our planned growth; (iii) general economic conditions; (iv) our business strategy and plans; (v) compliance with applicable laws and regulations; (vi) compliance with the financial and/or operating covenants in our amended credit agreement; (vii) adverse publicity regarding the cruise industry in general; (viii) loss of business due to competition; (ix) the result of future financing efforts; (x) the inability to meet revenue and Adjusted EBITDA projections and (xi) those risks described in our filings with the SEC. Stockholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the SEC, which are available at http://www.sec.gov or at http://www.expeditions.com in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website.

 

Key Operational and Financial Metrics

Lindblad uses a variety of operational and financial metrics, which are defined below, to evaluate its performance and financial condition. Lindblad uses certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Net Yields and Net Cruise Costs, to enable it to analyze its performance and financial condition. Lindblad  utilizes these financial measures to manage its business on a day-to-day basis and believes that they are the most relevant measures of performance. Some of these measures are commonly used in the cruise industry to measure performance. Lindblad believes these non-GAAP measures provide expanded insight to measure revenue and cost performance, in addition to the standard GAAP-based financial measures. There are no specific rules or regulations for determining non-GAAP measures, and as such, they may not be comparable to measures used by other companies within the industry. The presentation of non-GAAP financial information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Adjusted EBITDA is net income (loss) excluding depreciation and amortization, net interest expense, other income (expense), and income tax benefit (expense), and other supplemental adjustments. The Company believes Adjusted EBITDA can provide a more complete understanding of the underlying operating results and trends and an enhanced overall understanding of the Company's financial performance and prospects for the future. While Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized measure under GAAP, management uses this financial measure to evaluate and forecast business performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of liquidity or cash flows from operations or a measure comparable to net income. The Company's use of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to other companies within the industry.

Available Guest Nights is a measurement of capacity and represents double occupancy per cabin (except single occupancy for a single capacity cabin) multiplied by the number of cruise days for the period. The Company also records the number of guest nights available on its limited land programs in this definition.

Gross Cruise Cost represents the sum of cost of tours plus selling and marketing expense and general and administrative expense.

Gross Yield represents tour revenue divided by Available Guest Nights.

Guest Nights Sold represents the number of guests carried for the period multiplied by the number of nights sailed within the period.

Maximum Guests is a measure of capacity and represents the maximum number of guests in a period and is based on double occupancy per cabin (except single occupancy for a single capacity cabin). 

Net Cruise Cost represents Gross Cruise Cost excluding commissions and certain other direct costs of guest ticket revenue and other revenue.

Net Cruise Cost Excluding Fuel represents Net Cruise Cost excluding fuel costs.

Net Revenue represents tour revenue less commissions and direct costs of other revenue.

Net Yield represents Net Revenue divided by Available Guest Nights.

Number of Guests represents the number of guests that travel with the Company in a period.

Occupancy is calculated by dividing Guest Nights Sold by Available Guest Nights.

SOURCE Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc.