News for 'SIRI' - (Sirius Satellite Radio posts narrower loss in
4th-quarter as revenue doubles)
NEW YORK, Feb 28, 2007 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) -- Sirius Satellite
RadioInc.,which has agreed to acquire its rival XM Satellite Radio
Holdings Inc.,
reported a narrower loss for the fourth quarter Tuesday as revenues
more
thandoubled.Sirius had a net loss of $245.6 million (EUR 185.64
million), or 17 cents
a
share, in the last three months of 2006 versus a loss of $311.4
million,
or 23centsper share, in the same period a year earlier.
Revenues more than doubled to $193.4 million (EUR 146.18 million) from
$80milliona year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a loss of 19 cents
per
shareonrevenues of $173 million (EUR 130.76 million).
Sirius, which is based in New York, ended the year with just over 6
millionsubscribers,82 percent higher than the 3.3 million it had a year
earlier.
Sirius has agreed to buy its Washington, D.C.-based rival XM in a
combinationthatwould create one large provider of satellite radio
services, but the deal,
which the companies announced last week, will face tough regulatory
scrutiny inWashington.The companies describe the transaction as a
merger of equals, but Sirius
ispayinga premium for XM's stock, and the new company will be run by
Sirius' CEO
Mel Karmazin while XM's CEO Hugh Panero is departing.Sirius also
reported Tuesday that its average monthly "churn" rate, or the
rateatwhich paying subscribers leave, rose to 2 percent in the fourth
quarter
from1.5percent in the same period a year ago. That figure is closely
watched by
investors because it could suggest higher costs for growing its
subscriber
base.Siriussaid it expects average monthly subscriber churn between 2.2
percent and
2.4 percent in 2007.In other figures also monitored by investors,
Sirius said its cost for
acquiringeachsubscriber fell to $103 from $113 in the same period a
year ago. However,
the total number of "gross" subscriber additions - before accounting
fordropouts - fell 2.5 percent to 1.23 million in the fourth quarter.
Both Sirius and XM have posted major financial losses as they build up
theirsubscriberbases and programming lineups.
Shares of both companies declined more than 40 percent last year amid
concernsaboutslowing growth, particularly in retail sales. The
companies are
increasingly looking to add subscribers through radio units that
comepre-installedin vehicles.
Sirius said it expects to have more than 8 million subscribers by the
end
of2007and revenues approaching $1 billion (EUR 760 million).
For the full year 2006, Sirius posted a net loss of $1.1 billion (EUR
830million),or 79 cents per share, versus a loss of $863 million, or 65
cents per
share, a year earlier. Full-year revenues rose to $637.2 million (EUR
481.63million)from $242.2 million in 2005.
Sirius shares fell 9 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $3.65 on the Nasdaq
Stock
Market.Theyhave traded in a 52-week range of $3.50 to $5.57.
By SETH SUTEL AP Business Writer
Copyright (C) 2007 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved.-0-Source: Comtex Wall Street News |
