Gogo Announces Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

CHICAGO, Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogo Inc. (Nasdaq: GOGO), the global leader in providing broadband connectivity solutions and wireless in-flight entertainment to the aviation industry, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

Gogo's quarterly revenue increased to $126.4 million, up 22% year-over-year; service revenue increased to $107.2 million, up 31% year-over-year; and Adjusted EBITDA increased to $9.7 million, up 738% or $8.5 million year-over-year.

"We are extremely pleased with our strong financial performance for the quarter, and even more pleased with the flight test results of 2Ku, our next generation global connectivity solution, and that portends great things for our future," said Gogo's President and CEO, Michael Small. "2Ku is the first truly global broadband highway in the sky. It enables real-time streaming and live television programming and unlocks the full potential of the connected aircraft on a global basis. Eight airlines have selected this industry-leading technology since we first announced it a year and a half ago, a pace of adoption that's unprecedented in our industry."

Third Quarter 2015 Consolidated Financial Results

• Revenue increased to $126.4 million, up 22% from $104.0 million in Q3 2014.  Service revenue increased to $107.2 million, up 31% from $81.6 million in Q3 2014.
• Combined segment profit of CA-NA and BA increased to $30 million, up 46% from $20.5 million in Q3 2014.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased to $9.7 million, up 738% or $8.5 million from $1.2 million in Q3 2014.
• Cash CAPEX decreased to $11.8 million, down 60% from $29.8 million in Q3 2014, driven primarily by lower spend on airborne equipment.
• As of September 30, 2015, we had cash and cash equivalents of $388.0 million.

Third Quarter 2015 Business Segment Financial Results

Commercial Aviation - North America (CA-NA)

• Total revenue increased to $78.6 million, up 24% from $63.3 million in Q3 2014.
• During the quarter, we installed 114 aircraft and our airline partners retired 51 installed aircraft, primarily due to fleet-refresh programs. As a result, we ended the quarter with 2,312 aircraft online.
• Average monthly service revenue per aircraft online, or ARPA, increased to $11,303, up 12% year-over-year, driven primarily by connectivity service price increases. Estimated ARPA growth excluding the impact of regional jets would have been approximately 20% year-over-year.
• Segment profit increased to $11.8 million, up $6.3 million year-over-year, as a result of strong service revenue growth and increased operating leverage. Segment profit as a percent of segment revenue increased to 15% in Q3 2015, up from 9% in Q3 2014.

Business Aviation (BA)

• Service revenue increased to $26 million, up 38% from $18.9 million in Q3 2014, driven primarily by a 26% increase in ATG systems online to 3,314 at September 30, 2015 compared to 2,637 at September 30, 2014.
• Equipment revenue decreased to $18.3 million, down 15% from $21.4 million in Q3 2014, driven primarily by a decrease in satellite and ATG units shipped.
• Total segment revenue increased to $44.2 million, up 10% from $40.2 million in Q3 2014.
• Segment profit increased to $18.2 million, up 21% from $15.0 million in Q3 2014. Segment profit as a percentage of segment revenue increased to 41% in Q3 2015, up from 37% in Q3 2014.

Commercial Aviation - Rest of World (CA-ROW)

• We ended the quarter with 160 aircraft online and approximately 400 aircraft awarded but not yet installed.
• Revenue increased to $3.6 million, up 563% or $3.1 million from $0.5 million in Q3 2014.
• Segment loss increased to $19.9 million, up 3% from $19.4 million in Q3 2014, due primarily to increased expenses related to the development and certification of our next generation products and technologies.
• We have been testing 2Ku, our industry-leading global satellite connectivity technology, on our test plane since August, and results have surpassed our expectations. We have seen speed test results consistently above 12 Mbps to a device even as we have simultaneously streamed videos on more than 40 devices.

Recent Developments

• Japan Transocean Air selected Gogo's 2Ku in-flight connectivity and in-flight entertainment services for its new Boeing 737-800 aircraft fleet.
• BA announced the introduction of the Gogo Biz 4G connectivity product, which provides business aviation aircraft with streaming video and audio capabilities.
• Gogo formed a partnership with Ultramain Systems, a developer of airline operational software, to connect its industry leading aircraft maintenance applications. This partnership enhances our connected aircraft strategy by allowing airlines to process and analyze maintenance data in real-time.

Business Outlook

For the full year ending December 31, 2015, we are raising our Adjusted EBITDA guidance. We now expect Adjusted EBITDA of $30 million to $35 million for the full year 2015 and maintain our prior revenue and Cash CAPEX guidance.

Accordingly, our updated full year guidance is as follows:

• Total revenue of $485 million to $505 million
  • CA-NA revenue of $300 million to $320 million
  • BA revenue of $170 million to $180 million
  • CA-ROW revenue of $10 million to $15 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of $30 million to $35 million
• Cash CAPEX of $100 million to $120 million

"Because of our strong profitability trend, we now expect to exceed our previous 2015 Adjusted EBITDA guidance," said Gogo's Executive Vice President and CFO, Norman Smagley. "Going forward, we also expect strong growth in revenue and profitability supported by the aggressive roll out of 2Ku."

Conference Call

The third quarter conference call will be held on November 5th, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. ET. A live webcast of the conference call, as well as a replay, will be available online on the Investor Relations section of the company's website at http://ir.gogoair.com. Participants can also access the call by dialing (844) 464-3940 (within the United States and Canada) or (765) 507-2646 (international dialers) and entering conference ID number 54625011.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We report certain non-GAAP financial measurements, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss Per Share and Cash CAPEX in the supplemental tables below.  Management uses Adjusted EBITDA and Cash CAPEX for business planning purposes, including managing our business against internally projected results of operations and measuring our performance and liquidity. Management prepares Adjusted Net Loss Per Share for investors, securities analysts and other users of our financial statements for use in evaluating our performance under our current capital structure.  These supplemental performance measures also provide another basis for comparing period to period results by excluding potential differences caused by non-operational and unusual or non-recurring items. These supplemental performance measurements may vary from and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Loss Per Share and Cash CAPEX are not recognized measurements under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP, and when analyzing our performance or liquidity, as applicable, investors should (i) evaluate each adjustment in our reconciliation to net loss attributable to common stock, and the explanatory footnotes regarding those adjustments, (ii) use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Loss Per Share in addition to, and not as an alternative to, net loss attributable to common stock as a measure of operating results, and (iii) use Cash CAPEX in addition to, and not as an alternative to, consolidated capital expenditures when evaluating our liquidity.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain disclosures in this press release and related comments by our management include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our business outlook, industry, business strategy, plans, goals and expectations concerning our market position, international expansion, future technologies, future operations, margins, profitability, future efficiencies, capital expenditures, liquidity and capital resources and other financial and operating information. When used in this discussion, the words "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "budget," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "future" and the negative of these or similar terms and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking statements in this press release.

Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations regarding future events, results or outcomes. These expectations may or may not be realized. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give you no assurance these expectations will prove to have been correct. Some of these expectations may be based upon assumptions, data or judgments that prove to be incorrect. Actual events, results and outcomes may differ materially from our expectations due to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors, they include, among others, the following: the loss of, or failure to realize benefits from, agreements with our airline partners or any failure to renew any existing agreements upon expiration or termination; any inability to timely and efficiently roll out our 2Ku service or other components of our technology roadmap for any reason, including regulatory delays or failures or delays on the part of any of our suppliers, some of whom are single source, or the failure by our airline partners to roll out equipment upgrades, new services or adopt new technologies in order to support increased network capacity demands; the loss of relationships with original equipment manufacturers or dealers; our ability to develop or purchase ATG and satellite network capacity sufficient to accommodate current and expected growth in passenger demand in North America and internationally as we expand; unfavorable economic conditions in the airline industry and/or the economy as a whole; our ability to expand our international or domestic operations, including our ability to grow our business with current and potential future airline partners; an inability to compete effectively with other current or future providers of in-flight connectivity services and other products and services that we offer, including on the basis of price, service performance and line-fit availability; our reliance on third-party satellite service providers and equipment and other suppliers, including single source providers and suppliers; our ability to successfully develop and monetize new products and services such as Gogo Vision, Gogo Text & Talk and Gogo TV, including those that were recently released, are currently being offered on a limited or trial basis, or are in various stages of development; our ability to deliver products and services, including newly developed products and services, on schedules consistent with our contractual commitments to customers; the effects, if any, on our business of past or future airline mergers, including the merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways; a revocation of, or reduction in, our right to use licensed spectrum, the availability of other air-to-ground spectrum to a competitor or the repurposing by a competitor of other spectrum for air-to-ground use; our use of open source software and licenses; the effects of service interruptions or delays, technology failures and equipment failures or malfunctions arising from defects or errors in our software or defects in or damage to our equipment; the limited operating history of our CA-NA and CA-ROW segments; increases in our projected capital expenditures due to, among other things, unexpected costs incurred in connection with the roll-out of our technology roadmap or our international expansion; compliance with U.S. and foreign government regulations and standards, including those related to regulation of the internet, including e-commerce or online video distribution changes, and the installation and operation of satellite equipment and our ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals to install and operate our equipment in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions; our, or our technology suppliers', inability to effectively innovate; costs associated with defending pending or future intellectual property infringement and other litigation or claims; our ability to protect our intellectual property; breaches of the security of our information technology network, resulting in unauthorized access to our customer's credit card information or other personal information; any negative outcome or effects of pending or future litigation; limitations and restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness and our ability to service our indebtedness; our ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms or at all; fluctuations in our operating results; our ability to attract and retain customers and to capitalize on revenue from our platform; the demand for and market acceptance of our products and services; changes or developments in the regulations that apply to us, our business and our industry; the attraction and retention of qualified employees including key personnel; the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising and our ability to maintain and enhance our brands; our ability to manage our growth in a cost-effective manner and integrate and manage acquisitions; compliance with anti-corruption laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the (U.K.) Bribery Act 2010; restrictions on the ability of U.S. companies to do business in foreign countries, including, among others, restrictions imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control; difficulties in collecting accounts receivable. 

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2015.

Any one of these factors or a combination of these factors could materially affect our financial condition or future results of operations and could influence whether any forward-looking statements contained in this report ultimately prove to be accurate. Our forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and you should not place undue reliance on them. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Gogo

Gogo is a leading global aero-communications service provider that offers in-flight Internet, entertainment, text messaging, voice, connected aircraft services and a host of other communications-related services to the commercial and business aviation markets. Gogo has partnerships with 11 major commercial airlines and is now installed on nearly 2,500 commercial aircraft. More than 6,800 business aircraft are also flying with its solutions, including the world's largest fractional ownership fleets. Gogo also is a factory option at every major business aircraft manufacturer.

Gogo has more than 1,000 employees and is headquartered in Chicago, IL, with additional facilities in Broomfield, CO and various locations overseas. Connect with us at www.gogoair.com and business.gogoair.com.

• Aircraft online. We define aircraft online as the total number of commercial aircraft on which our ATG network equipment is installed and Gogo service has been made commercially available as of the last day of each period presented.
• Average monthly service revenue per aircraft online ("ARPA").  We define ARPA as the aggregate service revenue for the period divided by the number of months in the period, divided by the number of aircraft online during the period (expressed as an average of the month end figures for each month in such period).
• Gross passenger opportunity ("GPO"). We define GPO as the aggregate number of passengers who board commercial aircraft on which Gogo service has been available during the period presented. When available directly from airline partners, we aggregate actual passenger counts across flights on Gogo-equipped aircraft.  When not available directly from our airline partners, we estimate GPO.  Estimated GPO is calculated by first estimating the number of flights occurring on each Gogo-equipped aircraft, then multiplying by the number seats on that aircraft, and finally multiplying by a seat factor that is determined from historical information provided to us in arrears by our airline partners.  The estimated number of flights are derived from real-time flight information provided to our front-end systems by Air Radio Inc. (ARINC), direct airline feeds, and supplementary third-party data sources.  These aircraft-level estimates are then aggregated with actual airline-provided passenger counts to obtain total GPO.
• Total average revenue per passenger opportunity ("ARPP"). We define ARPP as revenue from Gogo Connectivity, Gogo Vision, and other service revenue for the period, divided by GPO for the period.
• Total average revenue per session ("ARPS"). We define ARPS as revenue from Gogo Connectivity, excluding non-session related revenue, divided by the total number of sessions during the period. A session, or a "use" of Gogo Connectivity, is defined as the use by a unique passenger of Gogo Connectivity on a flight segment. Multiple logins or purchases under the same user name during one flight segment count as only one session.
• Connectivity take rate. We define connectivity take rate as the number of sessions during the period expressed as a percentage of GPO. Included in our connectivity take-rate calculation are sessions for which we did not receive revenue, including those provided pursuant to free promotional campaigns and, to a lesser extent, as a result of complimentary passes distributed by our customer service representatives for unforeseen technical issues. For the periods listed above, the number of sessions for which we did not receive revenue was not material.

• Satellite aircraft online. We define satellite aircraft online as the total number of business aircraft for which we provide satellite services in operation as of the last day of each period presented.
• ATG aircraft online. We define ATG aircraft online as the total number of business aircraft for which we provide ATG services in operation as of the last day of each period presented.
• Average monthly service revenue per satellite aircraft online. We define average monthly service revenue per satellite aircraft online as the aggregate satellite service revenue for the period divided by the number of months in the period, divided by the number of satellite aircraft online during the period (expressed as an average of the month end figures for each month in such period).
• Average monthly service revenue per ATG aircraft online. We define average monthly service revenue per ATG aircraft online as the aggregate ATG service revenue for the period divided by the number of months in the period, divided by the number of ATG aircraft online during the period (expressed as an average of the month end figures for each month in such period).
• Units shipped. We define units shipped as the number of satellite or ATG network equipment units, respectively, shipped during the period.
• Average equipment revenue per satellite unit shipped. We define average equipment revenue per satellite unit shipped as the aggregate equipment revenue earned from all satellite shipments during the period, divided by the number of satellite units shipped.
• Average equipment revenue per ATG unit shipped. We define average equipment revenue per ATG unit shipped as the aggregate equipment revenue from all ATG shipments during the period, divided by the number of ATG units shipped.