Sirius XM Q4 Profit Matches View, But Revenues Top

(RTTNews) - Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI) reported a profit for the fourth-quarter 2015 that declined 5.9% from the prior year. But, total revenue increased about 10% from last year.

Quarterly earnings matched analysts' expectations, while revenue topped their estimates.

Looking ahead for 2016, the company expects Adjusted EBITDA of about $1.78 billion, Net subscriber additions of approximately 1.4 million, and revenue of approximately $4.9 billion. Analysts expect the company to report revenues of $4.93 billion for fiscal year 2016.

"We are investing in new marketing capabilities, our connected vehicle business, new satellites, a next generation wideband chipset and, most importantly, our world-class and exclusive content. We expect that these investments, together with our long-standing focus on execution, will help us continue our long history of strong, profitable growth," said Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM.

Net income for the fourth-quarter declined 5.9% to $134.63 million from last year's $143.12 million, while quarter earnings per share were $0.03, unchanged from the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.03 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Adjusted net income for the quarter decreased to $141.18 million from $143.67 million in the prior year.

But, total revenue for the quarter rose to $1.20 billion from $1.09 billion in the prior year. Wall Street expected revenues of $1.19 billion for the quarter.

SiriusXM added 2,283,000 net new subscribers in 2015, the highest growth in net subscribers since 2007, before Sirius and XM merged. The growth in net new subscribers in 2015 represents a 30% increase from the 1,752,000 net new subscribers added in 2014. Self-pay net subscriber additions were 1,765,000 in 2015, approximately 23% higher than in 2014.

Total paid subscribers climbed 8% in 2015 to approximately 29.6 million, and self-pay subscribers also increased 8% in 2015 to 24.3 million, both record highs.

SIRI closed Monday trading at $3.72, up $0.02 or 0.54%.