New York – Sirius XM Radio posted
a 54 percent gain in third-quarter net profit to $104.2 million on a 6 percent
revenue gain to $762.6 million, a company record for any single quarter.
The gains came despite a 0.3
percent decline in third-quarter net new subscriber additions to 333,683, compared
with the year-ago period, because of falling new-car sales. For the nine-month
period, the number of net new subscribers was up 6.4 percent to 1.16 million.
Also for the year-to-date, the
company posted a 186 percent net-profit gain to $355.6 million, reflecting
revenue growth combined with an 8 percent reduction in programming and content
expenses so far this year, CEO Mel Karmazin said. Since the Sirius and XM
merger in the summer of 2008, the company has reduced programming and content
expense by 20 percent, he noted.
The year-to-date profit
performance follows the company’s first profitable year in 2010 since the 2008
merger between Sirius and XM.
The third-quarter subscriber base
reached a record high of 21.4 million compared with the year-ago 19.9 million.
In revealing more details about
its planned
with capacitive touchscreen, Karmazin said the device is
designed not only for in-car and in-home satellite-radio 2.0 playback but also
for use in the home to stream the Sirius XM Internet service via Wi-Fi for
playback through a home audio system. That service will add on-demand music and
talk programming early next year.
The Lynx can be played back in
the home through a wired or stereo Bluetooth connection to a home audio system.
The company didn’t say whether the device, while in a vehicle, would be able to
use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to control the company’s Internet radio apps for
smartphones.
The company also said the Lynx
would be able to time-shift and store up to 200 hours of programming for later
playback. Additional functions will be made available via software upgrades.
Sirius XM didn’t specify a Lynx
ship date, saying only that it expects the tuner will be available in retail
channels before the year is out. Operations and sales president James Meyer
said he doubted the Lynx “would have a significant impact” on the company’s
holiday season retail aftermarket sales.
Though net additions were
essentially flat in the third quarter, Karmazin forecast a fourth-quarter net
subscriber gain of 440,000, which would be up 34 percent from the year-ago
quarter. The company continues to forecast full-year net adds of 1.6 million
and full-year revenue growth of 6 percent to $3 billion.
The company hinted at faster
revenue growth in 2012, with Karmazin noting that the price of a basic
subscription rises on Jan. 1 from $12.95 to $14.49 per month.
