(Reuters) - Gogo Inc (O:GOGO), an in-flight internet services provider, gave a full-year revenue forecast range that was largely above analysts' average expectation, driven by a surge in demand from commercial and business aviation clients.
Shares of the company, which also reported a better-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter, were up about 5 percent at $18.40 in premarket trading on Thursday.
Gogo forecast revenue of $490-$510 million for the year ending Dec. 31, compared with analysts' average estimate of $491.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Gogo gets more than half of its revenue from offering services and selling equipment to commercial aircraft customers in North America, but has been expanding that service overseas as well.
The company, whose customers include American Airlines (O:AAL), Virgin America and Air Canada (TO:ACb) has been spending more on the expansion, for connectivity fees and regulatory approvals.
Gogo, which also has a business aviation business, said it expects to offer its services on 125 additional commercial aircraft outside North America this year, doubling its count from 85 at the end of 2014.
Still most of the growth in the fourth quarter was powered by the more profitable business aviation business, where revenue from services exceeded that from equipment sales for the first time.
Higher average monthly service revenue per aircraft in both its commercial and aviation businesses helped revenue rise 18 percent to $109.2 million in the quarter and beat Wall Street expectation of $106.3 million.
The company, which has not reported a profit since going public in 2013, said its net loss widened to $24.1 million from $22.1 million a year earlier.
However, the loss of 28 cents on a per share basis was smaller than the 31 cents analysts' were expecting.