Viking Holdings Ltd

Good morning, my name is Brittany and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Vikings first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question at that time, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If you wish to remove yourself from the queue, press star 2. Thank you. I would now like to turn the program to your host for today's conference, Vice President of Investor Relations, Carola Mangiolini.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Vikings First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. I am joined by Tor Hagen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Leah Talaktak, Chief Financial Officer. Also available during the Q&A session is Lynn Bond. Executive Vice President of Finance. Before we get started, please note our cautionary statement regarding forward-looking information. During the call, management may discuss information that is forward-looking and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results to be different than those expressed or implied. please evaluate the forward-looking information in the context of these factors, which are detailed in today's press release as well as in our filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements are as of today, and we assume no obligation to update or supplement these statements. We may also refer to certain non-IFRS financial metrics, which are reconciled and described in our press release posted on our investor relations website at ir.viking.com. Tor and Leah will provide a strategic overview of the company, a recap of our first quarter results, and an update of the current booking environment and order book. We will then open the call for your questions. To supplement today's call, We have also prepared an earnings presentation that will also be available on our investor relations website following this call. With that, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Tor. Tor?

Thank you, Carola. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for our first earnings calls as a public company. To start today's call, I'd like to provide an overview of our business. and reiterate the key points of differentiation that we highlighted during our recent IPO Roadshow. Vikings started in 1997 with four river vessels and a vision that travel should be more about the destination and also more about the local culture. We saw an opportunity to create a high-end travel experience for guests who seek more than just a vacation. And that we should also appeal to mature individuals who want to learn more about history, art, and the culture of the places they visit. Over the past 27 years, Viking has grown into one of the world's leading travel companies, expanding our fleet from those four river vessels to 92 state-of-the-art ships, which we view as floating hotels. And we've built our travel platform from river cruises to ocean voyages to expeditions to the end of the world, and also in the US on the Mississippi River. During this time, we have successfully grown the business in large part because we are so different than others in the travel industry. I will now take some time to highlight a few of these differences. First, we maintain a clear focus on our core demographic, which are curious, affluent, English-speaking travelers over 55. They have the time money, and desire to explore the world. In the US, this demographic has the largest spending power of any demographic, holding over 70% of the wealth. And they're also the fastest growing segment of the population, expected to increase from 98 million people in 2020 to 110 million people in 2030. To put things in perspective, we carried about 650,000 guests in 2023. As you see, the opportunity is great. Second, we operate under one brand, Viking, which stands for excellence among our guests and across the industry. Rather than creating a conglomerate of different brands, all our products are a consistent extension of the one Viking brand. Being one brand also gives us flexibility and the ability to leverage scale. Third, we're destination focused. We feel strongly that the destination remains the destination, not the ship. And to that end, we have strategically built small ships, which we have proven to operate efficiently and profitably. Moreover, our research and direct customer feedback continues to indicate that our core demographic prefers smaller ship sites. Our ships offer quite understated elegance. They're uncluttered and comfortable. We call it modern luxury for the thinking person. You will find this same aesthetic across all our ships, creating a familiar comfort wherever you travel with Viking. And lastly, I will add that we are contrarians. We have used periods of economic downturn to secure favorable turns for our future ships, allowing us to achieve competitive prices and attractive financing. And all this brings us to where we are today, a newly listed public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange. I'm proud of our entire Biden family for achieving this major corporate and financial milestone and grateful for the continued hard work and dedication of our guests. On May 3rd, we completed our $1.8 billion IPO. It was priced at $24 per share. we raised approximately $246 million of net proceeds for Viking. In the slide here, you can see our post-IPO ownership structure and the economic and voting powers of TPG, CPPA investments, the Hagen family, and all of our other investors. Some say that when you go public, you become a different company. I venture to say we are different in this regard as well. My promise to our guests, employees, and to our shareholders is that we will continue to do four things. First, we will continue to obsess over our guests by offering an excellent travel experience at good value. Second, we will continue to treat all Viking employees as part of our family and keep the family ethos that has been fundamental to our company culture since the beginning. Third, we will continue to be contrarian, emphasizing the importance of a long-term view and shareholder value creation. And lastly, we will continue to do what is right when it comes to the environment with our already fuel-efficient river and ocean ships and with our project to create a true zero-emission solution. I will now turn the call to Leah to discuss the financials.