Looks like radio really is in deep dookey across the board… Sirius XM Radio Inc. said its loss widened to $4.88 billion in the third quarter after the satellite-radio provider booked a hefty impairment charge related to a drop in the company’s stock. Sirius XM was created by the combination of satellite-radio companies Sirius and XM in July. It reported results Monday after the closing bell. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the New York-based company’s losses widened to $1.93 per share, from a loss of $120.1 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier. The company’s results include only two months of operations at XM. It also includes a $4.8 billion impairment charge to goodwill, mostly related to a drop in the company’s share price since its agreement to combine in February 2007. The company’s adjusted results exclude the impairment charge and assume the combination of XM and Sirius occurred at the beginning of the year. Those results show that the loss narrowed to $217 million, or 9 cents per share, from a loss of $265.5 million, or 18 cents per share, in the prior year. Actual revenue more than doubled to $488.4 million from $241.8 million. On an adjusted basis, revenue gained 16 percent to $612.8 million, from $529.2 million last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who generally exclude unusual items, forecast losses of 9 cents per share on revenue of $587.4 million. “Sirius XM third-quarter results demonstrate strong revenue growth, solid cost control and most importantly a clear path to positive cash flow,” said Chief Executive Mel Karmazin in a statement. He noted that self-pay monthly customer churn remained flat from last year at 1.7 percent. [source]
