American satellite radio provider Sirius XM Radio Inc. posted a sharp increase in its first-quarter net income Tuesday, fueled by a growing subscriber base that was due largely to strong auto sales.
Sirius added 373,064 net subscribers during the quarter, ending the period with a new high of 20.6 million customers. That’s up 9% from 18.9 million a year earlier.
Higher auto sales help Sirius because the company has deals with major auto makers to provide its radio programming in cars.
“Consumers are buying cars again and demand for our product is strong. Were it not for the [manufacturing] supply chain uncertainty resulting from the tragedy in Japan, we would be in a position to raise our subscriber guidance today,” said CEO Mel Karmazin in a statement.
For the three months ended March 31, the company reported net income of $78.1 million, or 1 cent per share, up 88% from $41.6 million, also 1 cent per share, in the same period a year earlier. The company had slightly more shares outstanding in the most recent quarter, which decreases per-share earnings.
Revenue rose 9% to $723.8 million from $663.8 million.
Analysts, on average, were expecting break-even per-share results on revenue of $732.7 million, according to a poll by FactSet.
Sirius said it still expects full-year revenue of about $3 billion. Analysts are predicting $3.06 billion.
