* Q4 EBIT 30.9 mln crowns vs 9.4 mln yr ago
* Revenue exceeds analysts’ forecasts
OSLO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Norwegian Internet browser firm Opera Software OPERA.OL reported on Friday forecast-beating profits and revenues for the fourth quarter, and said it saw good growth prospects in the short and long term.
Opera, which makes Internet browsers for cellphones and other mobile gadgets as well as for desktop computers, said earnings before interest and tax rose to 30.9 million Norwegian crowns ($4.46 million) in the three months to end-December from 9.4 million in the same period a year earlier.
The profit was above an average estimate of 29 million crowns in a Reuters survey of eight analysts.
Revenues in the fourth quarter grew 69 percent year-on-year to 157 million crowns, exceeding all analysts’ forecasts of 136 million to 155 million crowns in the Reuters survey.
The revenue growth was above Opera’s 2009 target of more than 48 percent growth.
“Opera is positive about the company’s short and long-term growth prospects,” it said, adding that it saw “accelerating interest” in its products from equipment manufacturers as browsers become more common on various mobile devices.
Opera, a small rival to Google Inc GOOG.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O, earns money from licensing software to mobile phone and other equipment manufacturers.
Shares in Opera traded up 4.17 percent at 25.00 crowns by 0901 GMT, against the trend of a weak Oslo bourse .OSEBX. ($1=6.932 Norwegian crowns) (Reporting by John Acher; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
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