Subscriber Gain Helps Sirius Narrow Loss

From The New York Times - Sirius Satellite Radio, the pay-radio broadcaster planning to buy XM Satellite Radio Holdings, posted a narrower second-quarter loss after gaining more subscribers than analysts expected.

The net loss shrank to $134.1 million, or 9 cents a share, from $237.8 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier, Sirius, based in New York, said yesterday. The result was 1 cent better than analysts had expected, according to the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 51 percent, to $226.4 million.

Sirius, which broadcasts the talk-show host Howard Stern, added 561,500 net subscribers during the period, about 80,000 more than analysts estimated. Sirius ended June with 7.14 million subscribers and expects to have more than eight million by year-end. | Read full article