Sirius XM Radio posts subscriber growth for 4Q, expects full-year cash flow of $100 million
By APWednesday, January 20, 2010
Sirius XM Radio posts subscriber growth for 4Q
NEW YORK — Sirius XM Radio shares jumped Wednesday after the company said it added 257,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter and expects to report $100 million in free cash flow.
The stock jumped 5.8 cents, or 8.6 percent, to 72.6 cents.
Sirius offered signs late last year that it was starting to turn itself around after being battered by falling auto sales. It signs up many of its new subscribers when they buy vehicles. In the third quarter it shrunk its loss to $149.2 million from $4.9 billion a year earlier.
On Tuesday, Sirius said it ended the year with roughly 18.8 million subscribers, up from 18.5 million at the end of the third quarter. It marks the second consecutive quarter of net growth.
The company said preliminary figures show it made about $100 million in free cash flow — or cash after capital costs — for the full year. Assuming the company’s July 2008 acquisition of XM had been fully integrated, that would be up from negative cash flow of $552 million the year before, Sirius said.
