SiriusXM reported record earnings for both Q4 and for the full year of 2018, with revenue of $1.5 billion and $5.8 billion respectively. The satellite broadcaster added a net of 346,000 subscribers in Q4, ending it with 34 million plus.
The company’s fourth-quarter results were similarly solid, with net income that totaled $251 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $ a loss of 37 million in the prior year period, while full-year 2018 net income grew 81% to a record $1.2 billion.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization for SiriusXM grew 6% to $576 million in the fourth quarter, and 6% for the company’s full fiscal 2018 to a record $2.2 billion.
The company’s financial filings come just a day after shareholders of the music streaming service Pandora voted to accept SiriusXM’s bid to acquire the company in an all-stock transaction.
Following the acquisition, Pandora CEO Roger Lynch announced plans to step down from his role at the streaming service, with SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer taking over leadership of the company.
“SiriusXM had a strong finish to 2018, a year that saw our ninth consecutive year of one-million-plus net subscriber adds and our lowest full-year churn rate in the past decade. We have set even more ambitious goals for the Company to continue growing in 2019. In addition, we were pleased that yesterday Pandora’s stockholders voted in favor of our proposed merger, and expect to close the transaction shortly,” said Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM.
“SiriusXM continued significant capital returns in 2018, distributing approximately $1.5 billion to stockholders throughout the year. We repurchased approximately 209 million shares in 2018 for $1.3 billion and, in addition, the Company paid over $200 million in dividends to stockholders. Our Board of Directors recently added an additional $2 billion to our stock repurchase authorization, bringing our total authorization to $14 billion, with $3.3 billion remaining. At year-end 2018, our debt to adjusted EBITDA was 3.1 times and we had cash on hand of $54 million with undrawn revolver capacity of approximately $1.3 billion. In 2019, we will continue to use our strong capitalization and ample liquidity to invest in our business, make strategic investments and further return capital to stockholders,” noted David Frear, Chief Financial Officer, SiriusXM.