April 24 (Reuters) - Heavy industrial parts maker Wabtec raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, owing to strong demand in the company's freight segment, sending its shares up 7% in premarket trading.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company is a provider of equipment, systems and aftermarket services for freight and transit rail industries.

First-quarter sales in the company's freight segment, its largest unit, jumped 17.2% to $1.82 billion compared with the previous year.

Wabtec expects full-year adjusted profit in the range of $7 to $7.40 per share, compared with its previous forecast of $6.50 to $6.90 per share.

"Our orders pipeline and 12-month backlog continue to be strong, which provide visibility for profitable growth ahead," CEO Rafael Santana said.

The company's net sales rose 13.8% to $2.50 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $2.40 billion, according to LSEG data.

It reported an adjusted profit of $1.89 per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts' estimates of $1.49 per share. (Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)