By Ellen Sheng
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) Monday posted a narrower third-quarter loss amid subscriber growth.
The Washington, D.C., company reported a net loss of $84 million, or 32 cents a share, up from a loss of $132 million, or 60 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 57% to $240.4 million from $153 million.
Results came in above Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecasted a loss of 46 cents a share and revenue of $235.3 million, on average.
XM shares are almost 14% higher in morning trading at $12.94.
XM said it added 286,002 net new subscribers during the quarter, ending with 7.185 million subscribers - an increase of 43% over a year earlier. Gross subscriber additions came to 868,007 while churn, or the rate of monthly customer losses, was 1.82%, up from 1.4% a year earlier.
The company now expects to close the year with 7.7 million to 7.9 million subscribers from the previously expected 8.2 million to 7.7 million subscribers. The company also said it expects positive cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter and stood behind year-end targets, but narrowed the ranges.
XM tightened its outlook on subscription revenue for the year to a range of $810 million to $815 million from $810 million to $820 million. Similarly, expected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the year was narrowed to a loss of $205 million to $215 million from a previously expected loss $205 million to $230 million.
In other closely watched metrics, XM said average revenue per subscriber was $10.15 during the quarter, compared with $9.78 per subscriber a year earlier. Cost per gross customer addition was $93, up from $89 per user last year.
The satellite radio company has been in a race for subscribers against rival satellite operator Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI), which is reporting quarterly results on Wednesday. The larger of the two, XM has lowered its year-end targets twice this year. Executives blamed a slower retail market as well as slower-than-expected availability of new products. At the same time, Sirius has boosted its outlook and reported a strong retail interest.
-By Ellen Sheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5863; ellen.sheng@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 06, 2006 10:15 ET (15:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 10 15 AM EST 11-06-06 |
