SIRIUS Satellite Radio Reports Strong Subscriber and Revenue Growth In First Quarter of 2005
- Company Currently Has Over 1.5 Million Subscribers
- Revenue Up 365% Over Prior Year First Quarter
- Monthly Churn Improved to 1.3%
- Strong Cash Position Maintained
- SIRIUS Increases 2005 Year-End Subscriber Guidance to Over 2.7 Million
NEW YORK, April 28 -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced strong first quarter subscriber growth and financial and operating results, driven by continued demand for its superior programming.
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As of March 31, 2005, SIRIUS had 1,448,695 subscribers, attributing the better-than-expected subscriber growth to robust retail sales and rapidly expanding sales in its automotive distribution channel. SIRIUS reported revenue of $43.2 million for the first quarter of 2005, a 365% increase over the $9.3 million for the year-ago quarter, driven by a 312% increase over the company's subscriber base of 351,663 at the end of first quarter 2004.
The company is again raising its 2005 year-end subscriber estimate. SIRIUS now expects to have over 2.7 million subscribers at year-end, up from previous guidance of over 2.5 million, due to strong subscriber growth trends and continued robust demand for its service.
"Coming off a strong finish last year, we continued to see increased demand for SIRIUS during the first quarter," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. "Not only did we beat Wall Street consensus for subscriber and revenue growth, but we also registered our lowest churn ever, which clearly indicates a preference for our superior programming, as well as very high levels of customer satisfaction. Our strong results in the automotive channel are increasingly contributing to our subscriber growth, and we expect this momentum to build even further as more factory programs begin this year. Plus, with the addition of Martha Stewart Living Radio later this year, the arrival of Howard Stern next January and NASCAR in 2007, we believe demand for our service will continue to increase as we approach the launch of this exclusive content."
The first quarter subscriber figure reflects net additions of 305,437 subscribers compared to 90,602 net additions in the first quarter of 2004, an increase of 237%. SIRIUS had an average monthly churn of 1.3% during the first quarter, the lowest since the launch of its service. The historically low churn reflects high customer satisfaction with SIRIUS' premier programming. The company reported subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) per gross subscriber addition of $190 for the quarter, a 23% improvement over SAC per gross subscriber addition of $248 in the year-ago quarter. The company continues to expect SAC per gross subscriber addition to decrease to below $145 for full year 2005, with further declines expected in 2006.
In the first quarter of 2005, SIRIUS experienced significant increases in net subscriber additions across all its distribution channels while consumer awareness for the SIRIUS brand and for satellite radio in general continued to increase.
During the first quarter of 2005, SIRIUS added 174,202 net subscribers from its retail channel, a 166% increase over 65,514 retail net additions in the prior year first quarter. The company also added 132,211 net subscribers from its automotive, trucking and boating channels, a 449% increase over 24,093 net additions from those channels in the first quarter of 2004. Net additions from OEM and special markets represented 43% of total net additions in the first quarter of 2005, as compared to 27% of total net additions in the prior year's first quarter.
During the first quarter, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar and Volkswagen all announced expanded programs for installations of SIRIUS radios. In addition, Mitsubishi announced an exclusive agreement to factory install SIRIUS in various models beginning this fall.
SIRIUS' exclusive automotive partners, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and BMW continue to show a strong commitment to SIRIUS. In December 2004, DaimlerChrysler confirmed that its SIRIUS factory installation program was on track to produce over 500,000 subscribers over the 2005 and 2006 model years. BMW will begin offering SIRIUS as a factory-installed option in its new 3-Series when it is introduced next month. SIRIUS is already available as a factory-installed option on the 5-Series and 7-Series vehicles. In the first quarter of 2005, Ford announced plans to include SIRIUS as a factory-installed option in up to 21 of its models through the 2007 model year, and expects to generate up to one million SIRIUS subscribers by mid-calendar year 2007. Ford will begin factory installations of SIRIUS radios later this year.
SIRIUS continues to broaden the appeal of its programming to subscribers and advertisers. During 2005, the company announced an exclusive four-year agreement to create and launch Martha Stewart Living Radio later this year, as well as a five-year agreement to become the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR beginning in 2007. During the first quarter, SIRIUS hired two of the radio industry's most respected and accomplished advertising executives to help build advertising revenue on its non-music channels.
Guidance for 2005:
In view of a strong start to 2005, SIRIUS is raising guidance for 2005 net subscriber additions to 1.6 million, for a year-end 2005 subscriber target of over 2.7 million, up from over 2.5 million suggested by previous guidance. Estimated average monthly churn is expected to be in the range of 1.5% to 1.6% for 2005, ahead of the previous guidance of 1.6% to 1.7%, given the company's year-to-date reported churn and expectation of continued high customer satisfaction through year-end. The company continues to expect SAC per gross subscriber addition to be below $145 for the full year 2005, with further declines expected in 2006.
SIRIUS expects to generate $215 million of total revenue in 2005, up from previous guidance of $210 million, due to the increased subscriber growth for the year versus the previous guidance. The company now expects to report an adjusted loss from operations of approximately ($510) million in 2005, compared to previous guidance of ($480) million, reflecting increased SAC to support higher gross subscriber additions. Total operating cash uses, capital expenditures and purchases of restricted investments, are expected to be approximately ($375) million in 2005, as compared to previous guidance of ($350) million, primarily due to advance payments under our NASCAR agreement as well as increased SAC to support higher gross subscriber additions for the year.
SIRIUS ended the first quarter of 2005 with approximately $630 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, which the company believes is sufficient to reach cash flow breakeven in 2007 under its current business plan.
FIRST QUARTER 2005 VERSUS FIRST QUARTER 2004
For the first quarter of 2005, SIRIUS recognized total revenue of $43.2 million, compared with $9.3 million for the first quarter of 2004, a 365% year-over-year increase. This increase in revenue was driven by a net increase in the company's subscriber base of 1,097,032 subscribers, or 312%, from March 31, 2004 to March 31, 2005.
The company's adjusted loss from operations increased by $49.1 million, to ($127.1) million in 2005 (refer to the reconciliation table of GAAP loss from operations to adjusted loss from operations). This increase was driven in part by $40.1 million of increased subscriber acquisition costs, as SIRIUS' gross subscriber additions exceeded last year's first quarter gross subscriber additions by nearly 246,000 subscribers.
Programming and content expenses increased by $15.8 million, to $24.5 million for the first quarter of 2005, from $8.7 million for the first quarter of 2004. The increase in programming and content expenses was primarily attributable to an increase in costs to create, produce and acquire content, specifically costs associated with sports related programming initiatives, such as the NFL, NBA and college sports, and new branded music and talk channels such as Maxim Radio, Faction and Shade 45.
Sales and marketing expenses increased by $11.0 million, to $36.7 million for the first quarter of 2005, from $25.7 million for the year-ago first quarter. The increase in sales and marketing expenses was primarily a result of higher sponsorship and event marketing costs, increased OEM revenue share as a result of the increase in OEM net subscriber additions, higher distribution costs to support the expansion of our retail distribution channel, and personnel-related costs to support the continued growth of the company.
Finally, the company incurred increases in customer service and billing expenses, general and administrative expenses, and engineering, design and development expenses. Customer service and billing expenses increased by $5.6 million, to $9.5 million for the first quarter of 2005, from $3.9 million for the first quarter of 2004. This increase was a direct result of growth in the company's subscriber base and additional costs associated with its new billing system. General and administrative expenses increased by $6.9 million, to $14.8 million for the first quarter of 2005, from $7.9 million for the first quarter of 2004, primarily as a result of overhead expansion to support the continued growth of the business. Engineering, design and development expenses increased by $4.1 million, to $9.8 million for the first quarter of 2005, from $5.7 million for the first quarter of 2004, primarily the result of additional personnel-related costs to support research and development efforts and costs associated with tooling and manufacturing upgrades at DaimlerChrysler and Ford in preparation for SIRIUS factory installations.
SIRIUS reported a net loss of ($193.6) million, or ($0.15) per share, for the first quarter of 2005 compared with a net loss of ($144.1) million, or ($0.12) per share, for the first quarter of 2004.
(Selected financial information follows.)
SIRIUS defines adjusted loss from operations as GAAP loss from operations before depreciation and equity granted to third parties and employees. SIRIUS believes adjusted loss from operations is useful to investors because it represents operating expenses of the company excluding the effects of non-cash items.
SIRIUS defines average monthly revenue per subscriber, or ARPU, as the total earned subscriber revenue and net advertising revenue over the daily weighted average number of subscribers for the period.
SIRIUS defines subscriber acquisition costs, or SAC, per gross subscriber addition as SAC and the negative margin from the direct sale of SIRIUS radios and accessories over the number of gross subscriber additions for the period.
Adjusted loss from operations, ARPU and SAC per gross subscriber addition are not measures of financial performance under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and are used as measures of operating performance. As a result, these metrics may be susceptible to varying calculations; may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies; and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Quarterly Data
(Unaudited)
As of
3/31/05 3/31/04
Subscribers:
Beginning subscribers 1,143,258 261,061
Net additions 305,437 90,602
Ending subscribers 1,448,695 351,663
Retail 971,241 263,164
OEM and special markets 449,896 63,493
Hertz 27,558 25,006
For the Three Months Ended
3/31/05 3/31/04
Gross subscriber additions 354,708 108,732
Deactivated subscribers 49,271 18,130
Average monthly churn (1) 1.3% 2.0%
Subscriber acquisition costs
per gross subscriber addition $ 190 $248
Monthly ARPU:
Average monthly subscriber revenue
per subscriber before effects of Hertz
subscribers and mail-in rebates $ 10.64 $ 11.68
Effects of Hertz subscribers 0.01 (0.62)
Effects of mail-in rebates (0.06) (1.14)
Average monthly subscriber
revenue per subscriber $ 10.59 $ 9.92
Average monthly net
advertising revenue per subscriber 0.13 0.02
ARPU $10.72 $9.94
(1) Average monthly churn is the number of deactivated subscribers
divided by average quarterly subscribers.
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Financial Highlights
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
For the Three Months
Ended March 31,
2005 2004
Revenue:
Subscriber revenue, including
effects of mail-in rebates $41,904 $9,202
Advertising revenue, net of agency fees 534 20
Equipment revenue 767 50
Other revenue 11 19
Total revenue 43,216 9,291
Operating expenses:
Cost of services (excludes
depreciation shown separately below):
Satellite and transmission 6,813 8,412
Programming and content 24,488 8,690
Customer service and billing 9,492 3,860
Cost of equipment 976 64
Sales and marketing 36,732 25,682
Subscriber acquisition costs 67,093 26,981
General and administrative 14,832 7,869
Engineering, design and development 9,842 5,729
Depreciation 24,501 23,688
Equity granted to third
parties and employees (1) 38,706 17,824
Total operating expenses 233,475 128,799
Loss from operations (190,259) (119,508)
Other income (expense):
Interest and investment income 4,487 1,669
Interest expense (7,325) (23,699)
Other income 45 --
Total other income (expense) (2,793) (22,030)
Loss before income taxes (193,052) (141,538)
Income tax expense (560) (2,521)
Net loss $(193,612) $(144,059)
Net loss per share (basic and diluted) $(0.15) $(0.12)
Weighted average common shares
outstanding (basic and diluted) 1,314,312 1,217,608
(1) Allocation of equity granted to third parties and employees to other
operating expenses:
Satellite and transmission $559 $490
Programming and content 4,907 1,831
Customer service and billing 139 86
Sales and marketing 13,411 12,003
Subscriber acquisition costs 6,228 102
General and administrative 7,277 2,349
Engineering, design and development 6,185 963
Total equity granted to third
parties and employees $38,706 $17,824
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Financial Highlights
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
Selected balance sheet data as of:
March 31, December 31,
2005 2004
Cash, cash equivalents and
marketable securities $ 629,826 $759,168
Restricted investments 103,612 97,321
Working capital 411,910 541,526
Total assets 1,814,229 1,957,613
Long-term debt 656,318 656,274
Total liabilities 966,060 956,980
Accumulated deficit (2,059,468) (1,865,856)
Stockholders' equity 848,169 1,000,633
The following table reconciles GAAP loss from operations, as reported, to adjusted loss from operations:
For the Three Months Ended
March 31,
2005 2004
GAAP loss from operations, as reported $(190,259) $(119,508)
Depreciation 24,501 23,688
Equity granted to third parties and employees 38,706 17,824
Adjusted loss from operations $(127,052) $(77,996)
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Financial Highlights
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
For the Three Months Ended
March 31,
2005 2004
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss $(193,612) $(144,059)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss
to net cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation 24,501 23,688
Non-cash interest expense 762 20,022
Loss on disposal of assets 127 19
Equity granted to third parties and employees 38,706 17,824
Deferred income taxes 560 2,521
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Marketable securities 16 (92)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets (2,105) (4,695)
Other long-term assets (1,157) (968)
Accrued interest 2,736 3,744
Accounts payable and accrued expenses (5,838) 2,621
Deferred revenue 19,660 8,495
Other long-term liabilities (1,524) (991)
Net cash used in operating activities (117,168) (71,871)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Additions to property and equipment (6,888) (2,950)
Sale of property and equipment 12 28
Purchases of restricted investments (6,291) (85,000)
Maturities of available-for-sale securities 4,835 25,000
Net cash used in investing activities (8,332) (62,922)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt, net -- 293,600
Proceeds from exercise of stock options 993 1,453
Proceeds from exercise of warrants -- 19,850
Other (8) (33)
Net cash provided by financing activities 985 314,870
Net (decrease) increase in cash
and cash equivalents (124,515) 180,077
Cash and cash equivalents
at the beginning of period 753,891 520,979
Cash and cash equivalents
at the end of period $629,376 $701,056