Sirius Q3 Revenue Soars As Net Sub-Base Tops 662K

NEW YORK — An increasing subscriber base helped satellite-radio provider Sirius more than quadruple total revenue in the third quarter, hitting $19.1 million, compared with $4.3 million in the same three months last year.

However, increased subscriber acquisition costs drove up the company's adjusted loss from operations to $125.7 million in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, from a year-ago $77.5 million. Adjusted loss from operations is defined as loss from operations before depreciation expense and expense for equity granted to third parties and employees.

In addition, third-quarter cost increases in programming and content, sales and marketing and general expenses contributed to a net loss of $169.4 million, up from a net loss of $106.7 million year-over-year.

Sirius ended the third quarter with 662,289 subscribers, while a year earlier the figure was 149,612. Gross subscriber additions for the third quarter reached 207,101, up from 49,631 in the same three months a year ago. Average monthly churn rose to 1.5 percent in the third quarter from 1.4 percent year-over-year, but down from the 1.6 percent posted in the second quarter of this year.

During the third quarter, total retail subscribers hit 448,328, up from 110,821 in the third quarter of 2003 and an increase of 28 percent over the 480,341 registered in the previous quarter in 2004. Sirius said it remains on track to reach 1 million subscribers by the end of the year.

Average monthly revenue per subscriber dropped to $10.92 in the third quarter, down from $12.09 year-over-year and from $11.19 in the previous quarter. Subscriber addition costs per gross activation decreased to $229 in the third quarter, compared with $522 in the same period a year earlier and $234 in the previous quarter.