Viking Holdings reported that Q3 revenue in the third quarter grew 11% to $1.68 billion, and that inventory is 70% sold for 2025.
In a conference call with investors on Tuesday, CFO Leah Talactac was asked if Viking is booking too much of its capacity too far in advance, thereby reducing possible upsides from higher prices.
"Looking forward a year from now, we could be a little less sold," Talactac said. "But again, that depends on how we see things playing out."
Talactec said Viking's target demographic of couples over age 55 tends to plan ahead, which helps to naturally extend the booking curve. "There are going to be certain segments of them that are keen to book early," she said.
As of Nov. 3, Viking compiled $4.33 billion in advance bookings for 2025 departures, 26% higher than the 2024 season at the same point in time.
Asked about sailings on the Nile River and the security climate in the Middle East, Talactec said financial comparisons may be tougher in 2025 because most of the 2024 inventory had been sold prior to Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. However, she said the Nile represents just a few percentage points of overall capacity, so it doesn't "move the needle" that much one way or the other.
"It's small but very interesting," added Viking chairman Torstein Hagen. He called Viking's new Nile ships "by far the best on the river" from a customer standpoint, and said they also have "very good economics." Viking recently christened the Viking Hathor and Viking Sobek, the company's fifth and sixth Nile ships. Another four will be delivered in the next two years.
Asked about cruises in Russia, Talactec said Viking's five river ships in Russia and one in Ukraine could be back in service "relatively quickly" if a peace deal is concluded, but that the older ships have relatively lower margins than Viking's Longships. "But there's definitely an upside," she said.
Hagen indicated that Viking could one day expand beyond a single brand but didn't see that happening soon. He also said Viking has no plans to pay shareholders a dividend and expects no change to its relatively large cash holdings, which provide security, flexibility and a resource for potential acquisitions "if the opportunity presents itself."
Viking reported net income of $375 million in the third quarter. That compares to a loss of $1.24 billion in last year's Q3, which included a $1.59 billion private placement derivative loss that was related to the company's initial public offering.