Sirius XM Radio Inc., the nation's only major satellite radio provider, on Thursday said its third-quarter loss narrowed as it booked smaller charges and revenue rose almost 27 percent. Sirius, the home of radio shock jock Howard Stern, finished the quarter with 18.5 million subscribers, down 2 percent from last year but up 103,000 from the second quarter. The company lost $149.2 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with a loss of $4.9 billion, or $1.93 a share, in the same quarter a year ago. The latest quarter included a $138 million charge to pay off a credit line extended by Liberty Media Corp. and to take on new debt at a lower interest rate. Last year's third quarter included a $4.75 billion charge for goodwill impairment. Excluding these and other charges, Sirius would have reported a profit of $106 million compared with a loss of $37 million a year ago. Revenue rose to $618.7 million from $488.4 million. Last year included only two months of business from XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., whose purchase closed at the end of July 2008. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $608.7 million. Looking ahead, Sirius said it expects adjusted income from operations to increase by 20 percent in 2010 and revenue to rise in the mid- to high-single digits. It expects free cash flow and subscriber count to continue to grow. Sirius, based in New York, affirmed that this year's adjusted income from operations will be more than $400 million. |