Fincantieri has reported revenues of 1.6 billion euros and EBITDA of 101 million euros for the first quarter of 2021, up from 1.3 billion euros in revenues and EBITDA of 72 million euros for the first quarter of last year.

The results included COVID-19 related expenses of 14 million euros attributable to production inefficiencies and expenses to safeguard personnel’s health and safety.

The order backlog was said to include 98 ships with a production value of 34.4 billion euros.

Deliveries during the first quarter included the expedition cruise vessel Coral Geographer, followed by the Viking Venus in April.

Fincantieri said that cruise deliveries will be on schedule. Five more cruise ships are slated for deliveries in 2021, followed by eight in 2022, nine in 2023, five in 2024 and five in 2025 and four more beyond 2025.

For the first quarter, shipbuilding accounted for 1.5 billion of the revenues, of which cruise ships made up 926 million euros.

Since the fourth quarter, production of cruise ships has been back in full swing, according to Fincantieri. The 2021 schedule calls for a total of five cruise ships to be delivered from the Italian shipyards and two from Vard.

Fincantieri also stated that it expects to recover fully from the shortfall caused by the suspension of production due to COVID-19 and to reach its 2021 targets, with revenues expected to increase considerably during the rest of the year as it ramps up to meet the workload of its delivery schedule.

“The results of the first quarter picture a health group able, as expected, to confirm the guidance, with growing revenues and increased margins,” said Giuseppe Bono, CEO, in a prepared statement.

“We welcome the resumption of cruise activities in Europe and the one that will shortly follow in the United States.

“Those seps forward have only been possible through the rigorous implementation of all the health protocols applied by shipowners, making ships a safe place, and through  technologies for air sanitation and for mitigating the chance of infections, that have been developed to date.”