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Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Earnings: SiriusXM Subs Almost 31M, Pandora Ad Revenue Declines


SiriusXM today announced fourth quarter and full year 2020 operating and financial results, including revenue of $2.19 billion and $8.04 billion, respectively, an increase of 6% and 3%, respectively, compared to the prior year periods.  

The company recorded a net loss of $677 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 while full year net income totaled $131 million, down from $914 million for the full year in 2019.  The decrease in net income was a result of a $976 million non-cash impairment charge associated with Pandora.  Net income per diluted common share was $0.03 for the full year, compared to $0.20 in the prior year period. 

Full year net income, excluding the effect of the impairment, was approximately $1.11 billion, or $0.25 per diluted common share.  Adjusted EBITDA grew to $2.58 billion in 2020, an increase of approximately 6% from $2.43 billion in 2019.

"SiriusXM turned in strong operating and financial results in 2020: we grew SiriusXM self-pay subscribers, revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow despite the pandemic.  Our new car penetration reached approximately 80% in the fourth quarter and is set to rise above 80% this year, and the incorporation of 360L, our next generation in-car entertainment platform, is accelerating," said Jennifer Witz, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM.  Ms. Witz became CEO of SiriusXM on January 1, 2021, succeeding Jim Meyer upon his retirement.

"SiriusXM, Pandora and Stitcher, together with our investment in SoundCloud (SOUND), now reach an audience of more than 150 million people.  We are bolstering our position as North America's leading audio entertainment company with new innovative talk shows and podcasts, streaming music channels targeting younger audiences, and extended deals with major media brands, such as NBCUniversal News Group.  We signed an exclusive audio agreement with The Masters and secured additional digital sports rights with the NFL and NBA to benefit our streaming products.  We are also thrilled Howard Stern extended his agreement to continue live broadcasts of his amazing show," added Witz.

"The tremendous reach of SiriusXM's platforms, the company's unique business model, and the quality of its people attracted me to join the company last fall as CFO.  All of these attributes have been affirmed in the past three months since I came on board, and it has been a pleasure to partner with Jennifer as she made the transition to CEO," said Sean Sullivan, Chief Financial Officer of SiriusXM.  Mr. Sullivan became CFO of SiriusXM on October 26, 2020.

"SiriusXM returned approximately $1.81 billion to stockholders in 2020, including $1.57 billion of share repurchases and $237 million of dividends.  As previously announced, we increased the regular quarterly dividend by 10% in November for the fourth consecutive year.  During the fourth quarter, we opportunistically accelerated the pace of common stock repurchases to $680 million and closed on our acquisition of Stitcher.  At the end of the fourth quarter, SiriusXM's debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio was 3.3x, and we have tremendous liquidity to continue investing in the business and returning capital to stockholders," added Sullivan.

👉SIRIUSXM SEGMENT

Self-Pay Subscribers Nearly 30.9 Million.  SiriusXM added 909,000 net new self-pay subscribers for the full year to end 2020 with nearly 30.9 million self-pay subscribers.  Self-pay monthly churn for the full year was 1.7%, an improvement of 7 basis points compared to 2019 and marking the fourth consecutive year of improving self-pay churn.  Total SiriusXM subscribers were 34.7 million at the end of 2020, down approximately 1% from 34.9 million at the end of 2019.  Paid promotional subscribers decreased due to lower auto sales, a decrease in vehicle shipments by automakers offering paid trial subscriptions, and a reduction in trial lengths at certain automakers.  The total trial funnel stood at approximately 8.4 million at the end of 2020, down from approximately 8.9 million at the end of the third quarter.

SiriusXM Revenue Increased 2% to $6.35 Billion.  Full year 2020 revenue grew 2% to $6.35 billion, with growth in subscriber revenue offsetting a decline in advertising revenue.  This growth was driven by a 2% increase in SiriusXM's average revenue per user (ARPU) to $14.10 in 2020 compared to the year ago period.  Excluding advertising revenue, SiriusXM ARPU grew 3% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Gross Profit and Margin Steady.  Total cost of services at SiriusXM increased by 2% to $2.43 billion for the full year, resulting in $3.92 billion of gross profit, a 3% increase over 2019.  Gross profit margin was 62%,  unchanged compared to 2019.

New Car Penetration Rises; Howard Stern Agreement Extended, Launch of Exclusive Podcasting on SiriusXM.  SiriusXM's new car penetration rate climbed to approximately 80% in the fourth quarter 2020, an increase of roughly 500 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2019.  For the full year 2020, new car penetration was approximately 78% compared to 73% in 2019.  In the fourth quarter of 2020, the company extended its live broadcast agreement with Howard Stern and introduced podcasts on SiriusXM's mobile app, including a slate of SiriusXM original podcasts and exclusive new podcasts from Marvel Entertainment (MVL), and others.

👉PANDORA SEGMENT

Advertising Revenue Declined 1% to $1.18 Billion.  Full year ad revenue at Pandora, which includes off-platform results such as the company's AdsWizz business, declined just 1% year-over-year to $1.18 billion, despite significant weakness in the advertising market resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in 2020.  Monetization of $79.24 per thousand hours at Pandora was down just 1% year-over-year.  Fourth quarter 2020 ad revenue jumped 22% to $425 million compared to the prior year quarter.

Total Ad Supported Listener Hours of 12.5 Billion.  Monthly Active Users (MAUs) at Pandora were 58.9 million at the end of 2020, down from 63.5 million at the end of 2019.  Total ad supported listener hours were 12.50 billion in 2020, down from 13.44 billion in 2019.

Self-Pay Net Adds of 133,000.  Pandora added 133,000 net new self-pay subscribers to its Pandora Plus and Pandora Premium services in 2020, ending with nearly 6.3 million self-pay subscribers to those services.

Gross Profit Declined 8%.  Subscriber revenue decreased by 2%, advertising revenue decreased by 1% and total cost of services increased by 2%, resulting in gross profit at Pandora of $571 million, down 8% from 2019.  Gross margin at Pandora for 2020 was 34%, down from 36% in 2019.

Growing Adoption of Modes; Innovative Ad Tech.  The popularity of Pandora's Modes feature, which lets Pandora users fine-tune their music stations using selectable "modes," has continued to accelerate.  Modes users nearly doubled in the second half of 2020, and new Modes continue to roll out across popular Pandora music stations such as on UNINTERRUPTED Radio's new curated "All Pro Mode" before this week's big game.  And, as a longtime leader in audio advertising technology, the company will introduce a new, full-service podcast advertising solution for brands later this year.

Stitcher Acquisition Closed.  SiriusXM closed its acquisition of Stitcher in October 2020.  Stitcher reported record quarterly ad revenue in the fourth quarter, and it extended sales and distribution rights to popular podcasts including WTF With Marc Maron and Hidden Brain.  Stitcher has some of the most popular podcasts available today including Freakonomics, My Favorite Murder and Office Ladies, which was recently named Podcast of the Year at the iHeartMedia Podcast Awards.

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