SiriusXM Radio has reported its third quarter fiscal results for 2012, with revenue up 14 percent to $867 million from Q3 2011's revenue of $763 million. However, net income fell from $104 million to $75 million, including a loss on extinguishment of debt of $107 million in the third quarter of 2012.  Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2012 was $245 million, up 24 percent from $197 million a year ago.

Outgoing SiriusXM CEO Mel Karmazin commented, "SiriusXM delivered a very strong third quarter for our shareholders, with 446,000 net subscriber additions, double-digit growth, and record levels of revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow.  The Company has produced more free cash flow in the first nine months of this year than in any full year in its history, and we've used this cash to reduce our debt to its lowest level since the merger of Sirius and XM."

He continued, "We're excited about the increase in subscriber guidance to 1.8 million net additions that we reported earlier this month, as we believe growth in the fourth quarter will continue.  We continue to make investments across our business, particularly in R&D, customer care, infrastructure, and programming.  We are also investing in new businesses, such as the telematics service we announced in the third quarter with Nissan, and we believe these investments will reward our shareholders in the years to come."

SiriusXM also touted record subscriber growth in Q3, as self-pay net subscriber additions improved by two percent year-over-year to 371,000, pushing the self-pay subscriber base to an all-time high of 19 million subscribers. The total paid subscriber base rose to a record high 23.4 million subscribers. Self-pay monthly churn was two percent in the third quarter of 2012, compared to 1.9 percent a year earlier.

The satcaster's free cash flow was $195 million in the third quarter, an improvement of 159 percent from $75 million in Q3 2011.

"Following the repurchase of approximately $868 million of our debt in the third quarter of 2012, SiriusXM ended the quarter with $556 million of cash. The company's leverage has improved dramatically in the past year, ending the third quarter at just 2.8x our adjusted EBITDA, down from 4.3x at the end of the third quarter of 2011," remarked David Frear, SiriusXM EVP/CFO. "By eliminating our two most expensive debt instruments in the third quarter, we will reduce our interest costs significantly, and with no debt maturing in the next two years we now have more flexibility to pursue strategic initiatives."

"Our increased subscriber guidance of approximately 1.8 million net additions shows we remain confident about growth in the fourth quarter," said Karmazin.  "We were pleased to raise our subscriber guidance for the third time this year." The company confirmed its 2012 subscriber, revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow guidance of:
Net subscriber growth approaching 1.8 million,
Revenue approaching $3.4 billion,
Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $900 million, and
Free cash flow of approximately $700 million.