SiriusXM sees more impressive numbers
July 25, 2013
By Chris Forrester
John Malone-controlled pay-radio broadcaster SiriusXM reported 715,000 net new subs in Q2, with revenues for the quarter at $940 million (up 12 per cent on 2012) and saw the operator crash through the 25 million subscriber number (up 9 per cent) and the best quarterly gain since Q4/2007.
Just about every metric was beaten, including its own guidance for the period. Guidance as to expectations for this year has again been raised with SiriusXM now saying it expects to wrap the year with an EBITDA margin of 30 per cent (last year 19 per cent).
It now says it expects to add a total of some 1.5 million net new subs this year, taking the total to near 26 million. Indeed, some analysts are suggesting that the total could be higher, based on past performance and what SiriusXM is doing with the new and second-hand car market. SiriusXM now has direct relationships with more than 10,000 second-hand car dealers while this time last year the total measured only in the hundreds.
It is also clear that the US economy is on the mend, and that new car sales are recovering. In June alone some 1.4 million new cars were bought taking the half-year tally to around 7.8 million. Based on these growth numbers many expect SiriusXM to expand its subs base by nearer 2 million this year.