Inmarsat posts jump in third quarter profit

Inmarsat’s third quarter profit has been given a large boost thanks to its aviation division.

The FTSE 100 satellite communications service provider posted its results for the three months to 30 September on Friday.

Total revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on 2014, driven by an $11.9m (£7.8m) increase in aviation revenues.

The division had a successful quarter after the company signed a memorandum of understanding, which has since become a 10-year contract, with Lufthansa to provide inflight connectivity services initially to 150 of its aircraft.

It also formed a strategic partnership with Deutsche Telekom to develop the ground component of its European Aviation Network.

Wholesale Mobile Satellite Service revenues were also up 11.3% to $213.7m from $192.0m.

Maritime revenues rose $2.6m to $150.2m (1.8%) while its government division jumped fractionally to $77.2m.

The only part of the business to see a drop in revenue was its enterprise division, which dipped $1.2m to $39.7m due to an Isatphone 2 manufacturing issue.

Overall, operating profit for the period was up from $90.2m to $105.6m – a 17% increase.

Chief executive Rupert Pearce said the results showed solid growth in the quarter.

“We therefore saw real progress across all three of the core elements of our strategy - L-band, Global Xpress, and aviation passenger connectivity - and we are confident that we can maintain this momentum in all of these areas of opportunity for Inmarsat."

The company said there should be no change in the trading environment or the group's performance for the rest of the year, and expected full-year revenue to be between $1.25bn and $1.3bn.