Sirius Takes Hit in Q1

Sirius reported a net loss of $458.5 million for the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $193.6 million in the same period a year ago.
Executive Mel Karmazin cited non-cash equity charges as the main reasons for the widening loss and said those would not affect free cash flow in the next quarter.
First quarter revenue grew to $126.7 million, up 193% from $43.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Ad revenue increased to $7.3 million, which the company said represented 53% of total satellite radio industry advertising revenue in the first quarter.
Average monthly churn was 1.8%. Subscriber acquisition costs per gross addition were $113 for the first quarter, a 41% improvement over a year ago.
Sirius ended the first quarter with 4.07 million subscribers and said it had net additions of about 760,000, a 149% increase in net additions from the year-ago quarter.
The company predicts it will have more than 6.2 million subscribers by year-end and total revenue exceeding $600 million. It hopes to reach its first quarter of positive free cash flow, after capital expenditures, in the fourth quarter of this year.
XM lost $151.4 million in the first quarter compared to $122.1 million at this time last year. The company said it added about 569,000 net subscribers and finished the quarter with 6.5 million compared to 3.7 million a year ago.