The company's stock climbed $1.25 to close at $10 in heavy trading on the Nasdaq stock market today.
The company, parent of American Hawaii Cruises and Delta Steamboat Co., reported a profit of $2.9 million, or 21 cents a share, on revenues of $50.1 million for the three months ended Sept. 30. In the comparable period last year, the company had a profit of $1.7 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenues of $52 million.
The Hawaii operations, where the company operates the 817-passenger ship SS Independence in round-the-islands cruises, contributed to the increased profit through higher occupancy and revenues, the company said.
Although room rates were down, with the average passenger paying $211 a night in the latest quarter compared with $233 in the 1995 quarter, American Hawaii Cruises reported a 5 percent increase in passenger nights - the number of passengers multiplied by the number of nights on board - to 173,150, from 164,643 in the year-earlier period.
The Independence is already 59 percent booked, at an average of $226 per passenger per night, for the first half of 1997, said Philip C. Calian, president and chief executive of the Chicago-based company.
Cost savings at American Hawaii and Delta Steamboat, the riverboat operation out in New Orleans, helped to increase the profit, he said.
"This is our strongest quarter in the past three years and evidences the turnaround on which we are building," Calian said.
While operating results are better, the company still has to overcome a big one-time charge earlier in the year resulting from the decision not to bring the second American Hawaii Cruises vessel, the SS Constitution, back into service. A mainland shipyard examination prior to planned renovations showed there was too much wrong with the ship for it to be worth fixing.
The company, which is looking for a replacement ship, took a $38.4 million charge in the first quarter. The result was a loss of $40 million for the first nine months this year, compared with a loss of $9.9 million in the same period of 1995.