The company, which earlier this year secured financing from John Malone's Liberty Media Corp (LINTA.O) (LCAPA.O) (LMDIA.O) to stave off looming debt problems, said subscribers to the pay-radio service declined by some 186,000 from the first quarter, better than many analyst expectations.
Shares of Sirius XM, which had risen sharply in the days ahead of the report, slipped 9 percent after it reported that it ended the period at 18.4 million. It attributed the quarterly decline to weakness in auto industry sales.
Proforma revenue rose 1 percent to $607.8 million, on par with analysts' views. The proforma figures reflect the fact that Sirius completed its purchase of rival XM Satellite Radio last July and compare the results as if they were a single company a year ago, also making some accounting adjustments for the transaction.
Net loss attributable to common shareholders for Sirius XM, home to programs by Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey as well as Major League Baseball, was $157.3 million or 4 cents a share.
Excluding special items the loss was was 1 cent a share, matching analysts estimates, according to Reuters Estimates.
In the quarter, Sirius also trimmed subscriber acquisition costs to $57 per gross subscriber addition from $71 in the year ago quarter.
It raised its 2009 outlook for adjusted income from operations to more than $400 million, fueled by accelerated cost cutting. It was the second time it lifted the forecast, after raising it in May to $350 million from $300 million.
"We think the stronger subs performance, as well as better-than-expected profitability, in the quarter, suggests this number should be attainable," J.P. Morgan analyst Lev Polinsky said in a note to clients.
The outlook improvement comes as more subscribers to Sirius, which gains most of its new users from radios built into cars, sign up for premium programming packages and on higher prices for users with multiple subscriptions.
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