Sirius XM Radio on Thursday reported lower third-quarter earnings, but record revenue and more subscribers.
The satellite radio firm, led by CEO Jim Meyer, added 513,000 net subscribers in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, up from 446,000 in the year-ago period. That brought its total subscriber base to 25.6 million subscribers.
It raised its full-year subscriber growth guidance from 1.5 million to 1.6 million.
Sirius, controlled by John Malone‘s Liberty Media, said its quarterly earnings amounted to $63 million, compared with $75 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted operating cash flow hit a record $296 million. Revenue rose 11 percent to $962 million, also a quarterly record.
During an earnings call, Meyer said the company would raise its main monthly subscription price by 50 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $14.99 next year. While he said price hikes are always “difficult” decisions, the CEO emphasized that management was confident that subscribers would be able to absorb the latest increase and that it would not boost user churn significantly.
He also lauded recent renewals of key content deals, including with Fox News.
E-mail: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
