SiriusXM Hits Another Record For Revenue In Fourth Quarter

Results

SIRIUSXM fourth quarter revenue rose 9% to $1.3 billion, a record for the company, while net income rose 52% to $205 million (4 cents/diluted common share) and Adjusted EBITDA grew 20% to $475 million.

The subscriber count for full year 2016 grew by over 1.75 million net new subscribers to reach about 31.3 million, with self-pay net additions adding 1.66 million to end up at nearly 26 million.

CEO JIM MEYER said, "Last year was a phenomenal year for SIRIUSXM's business, and we expect continued success in 2017. We finished ahead of our guidance across the board, with record revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. With more than 31 million subscribers, SIRIUSXM has never had more paying customers. We've issued guidance for continued growth in 2017, and we expect a record adjusted EBITDA of more than $2 billion.

"We will continue to challenge ourselves to provide our subscribers the very best audio content in an easy-to-use package. We have launched an exclusive 24/7 channel, 'FOX SPORTS ON SIRIUSXM,' and we've started a daily show with the wildly popular BARSTOOL SPORTS. We added a new daily talk show with CRAIG FERGUSON, and launched a new daily music show, 'HITS 1 IN HOLLYWOOD,' broadcasting live from SIRIUSXM's LOS ANGELES studios. We also provided our subscribers access to one-of-a-kind events, such as BON JOVI live in MIAMI. We never stand still in our quest to have the freshest, most relevant content in the audio entertainment industry, from music to sports to talk to comedy and beyond."

CFO DAVID FREAR added, "During 2016, we spent approximately $1.67 billion to repurchase 420 million shares of our common stock. SIRIUSXM's average share count in 2016 declined by 9% from 2015 as a result of these repurchases. Additionally, we returned nearly $50 million in cash to our stockholders, with the initiation of our first regular dividend in October, bringing total capital returned to stockholders to approximately $1.72 billion in 2016. Our debt to adjusted EBITDA was just 3.1 times, and we ended 2016 with a cash balance of $214 million. Approximately $143 million of this cash at year end was held in Canadian dollars in anticipation of closing the recapitalization of our Canadian affiliate, SIRIUSXM CANADA INC., which we now expect to occur early in the second quarter. In 2017, we expect to make further investments in content, satellites, and technology while continuing strong capital returns to stockholders."

On the company conference call, President/Chief Content Officer SCOTT GREENSTEIN said that the previously announced HOWARD STERN video service is "on plan" for this year, but MEYER demurred on other possible video offerings, saying that he doesn't think "we are ever going to be in the stand-alone video business."

The company issued full-year 2017 guidance for $5.3 billion in revenue, 1.3 million self-pay net subscriber additions, Adjusted EBITDA of about $2.025 billion, and free cash flow of approximately $1.5 billion.

« see more Net News