First Quarter 2020 Highlights:
- Tour Revenues decreased 9% to $81.2 million
- Net loss available to common stockholders of $1.9 million
- Adjusted EBITDA decreased $11.5 million to $10.6 million
- Significantly expanded capacity with the delivery of the National Geographic Endurance in March 2020
- Net Yield increased 3% to $1,130 per night and Occupancy was 89%
- First quarter results were significantly impacted by voyage disruptions, cancellations and rescheduling of expeditions due to the COVID-19 virus
- Ended first quarter with $137 million in cash; implementing significant cost reduction measures to further increase liquidity profile
- Monthly cash burn expected to be approximately $10-15 million excluding the impact of guest payments and refunds
Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIND; the “Company” or “Lindblad”), a global provider of expedition cruises and adventure travel experiences, today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.
Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and Chief Executive Officer, said “Lindblad was off to another great start in 2020 with the strong momentum we generated throughout the last few years continuing during the first two months of the year. Since that point, the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the related travel restrictions around the world have created unprecedented challenges. As always, the safety of our guests and crew remains our highest priority, and we are very pleased that we have had no reported cases of COVID-19 across our fleet and were able to safely disembark all guests from our ships in a timely fashion. Given the uncertainty that the virus has created around the timing and impact on future operations, we are taking all necessary steps to enhance our liquidity, while preparing further protocols, including testing, to put in place for when we can safely resume operations. We firmly believe that the smaller size of our ships, our advanced cleaning systems and robust operating protocols, along with the remote geographies we visit, and the profile of our guests, ideally situates us to be able to resume operations safely and effectively once travel restrictions have been lifted. Over the last forty years we had to overcome significant adversity from time to time and, in every instance, we have endured and then flourished due in large part to the resiliency of our employees and guests. We fully expect to do so again and look forward to returning to the world’s most remarkable locations.”
COVID-19 BUSINESS UPDATE
Due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the effects of travel restrictions around the world, the Company has suspended or rescheduled the majority of our expeditions departing March 16, 2020 through June 30, 2020 and has been working with guests to reschedule travel plans and refund payments, as applicable. To date, the Company has had no reported cases of COVID-19 across its fleet and all guests have safely disembarked its vessels. The majority of the Company’s ships are currently being maintained with minimally required crew on-board to ensure they comply with all necessary regulations and can be fully put back into service quickly as needed. In accordance with local regulations, the Company closed its offices and most employees are working remotely to maintain general business operations, to provide assistance to existing and potential guests and to maintain information technology systems.
The Company has moved quickly to implement a comprehensive plan to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and preserve and enhance our liquidity position. We are employing a variety of cost reduction and cash preservation measures, while accessing available capital under our existing debt facilities and exploring additional sources of capital and liquidity. These measures include the following operating expense and capital expenditure reductions:
- Significantly reducing ship and land-based expedition costs including crew payroll, land costs, fuel and food. All ships have been safely laid up.
- Lowered expected annual maintenance capital expenditures by over $10 million, savings of more than 50% from originally planned levels
- Meaningfully reduced general and administrative expenses through payroll reductions and the elimination of all non-essential travel, office expenses and discretionary spending
- Suspended the majority of planned advertising and marketing spend
- Deferred payment of the majority of bonuses earned for 2019 performance, as well as cash compensation for the Board of Directors
- Suspended all repurchases of common stock under the stock repurchase plan