Sirius XM (SIRI) this afternoon said it ended the year with 18,772,758 subscribers, adding 257,028 net new subs in the fourth quarter.
The company also said it expect to report over $100 million in free cash flow for all of 2009, compared with a loss of $552 million in 2008. In a statement, CEO Mel Karmazin said the company’s strong Q4 sub growth reflects improved auto sales, conversion rates and better-than-expected self-pay churn. Those factors, he said, “suggest that the outlook for the auto sector and the effects of the economy on our business are beginning to improve.”
Sirius also said the conversion rate to self-pay plans from trails in the quarter rose to 46.4%, from 44.2% a year earlier. Self-pay churn in the quarter was 1.97%.
The company said it expects to meet its guidance for the year, with over $400 million in pro forma adjusted operating income, an improvement over more than $500 million from 2008.
Self-pay subs were up 247,182 in the quarter to 15,703,932. Total paid and unpaid trials was flat with the prior quarter and prior year at about 3.6 million.
In late trading, SIRI is up 3.7 cents, or 5.5%, to 70.5 cents.
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