Inmarsat Sees Strong Growth in Government, Aviation in Q1 2017

Inmarsat headquarters. Photo: Matt Biddulph (Flickr)

Inmarsat reported a solid performance in the first quarter of 2017 with an 11 percent increase in total revenue to $332.2 million from the same period last year. The company’s government and aviation divisions saw particularly strong growth, increasing 25 percent to $86 million and 41 percent to $44.2 million respectively.

According to Inmarsat, the adoption of its GX platform gained further traction across its government customer base, including a major take-or-pay contract with its partner Boeing. Initial revenue generation from the U.S. Navy’s Commercial Broadband Satellite Program Satellite Services Contract (CSSC), won in 2016, also supported the division’s performance.

On the aviation side, much of the revenue growth came from Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband and Classic Aero L-band products, which ended the period with more than 16,500 connected terminals. Inmarsat also stated it made good progress on-boarding customers to GX, including Deutsche Lufthansa Group, and has recently signed contracts for In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) services for more than 950 aircraft.

Inmarsat reiterated its guidance disclosed in March of 2017 revenue of $1.2 billion.