Royal Caribbean Group has achieved something it has not done since the pandemic suspended the entire cruise industry in March 2020. The New York-listed cruise major has made a profit. Jason Liberty-led Royal Caribbean reported $33m in net income for this year’s third quarter on Thursday, marking the first time in nine consecutive quarters that it has been on the black side of the ledger. Before Thursday, the Miami-based owner’s quarterly results had been billions of dollars in the negative for more than two years, including the year-ago loss of $1.43bn. “Last quarter’s better than expected performance was a result of the continued robust demand environment and strong execution by our teams,” chief executive Jason Liberty said in a statement.

Royal Caribbean posted an adjusted profit of $65.8m versus an adjusted loss of $1.2bn for the third quarter of 2021. The owner achieved earnings per share (EPS) of $0.26, beating analyst consensus of $0.20 EPS and far exceeding the $5.59 loss per share recorded during last year’s third quarter. “Third-quarter results were better than expected and above guidance for the quarter mainly due to higher load factors from strong close-in demand, further improvement in onboard revenue and better cost performance,” he said. “The group also introduced the Trifecta Program, a new three-year initiative designed to drive superior performance.”

Revenue totaled $2.99bn versus $457m a year earlier as third-quarter occupancy reached 96% overall and almost 105% on Caribbean sailings during the third quarter, Royal Caribbean said. Royal Caribbean paid off $5.6bn in debt maturing in 2022 and 2023 during the quarter, leaving $100m of debt maturities in 2022 and $2.1bn in 2023. Its total long term debt stands at $19.4bn.

The company, which has $3.8bn in customer deposits, expects revenue of about $2.6bn, adjusted Ebitda of $350m to $400m and adjusted loss per share of $1.30 to $1.50 for the fourth quarter.

“While still early in the booking cycle, the view for 2023 is encouraging and the company expects a return to historical load factors in early summer, record yields and adjusted Ebitda for 2023,” Royal Caribbean said.