Liberty Media Corporation Reports 3Q Financial Results

Liberty Media Corporation Thursday reported third quarter 2021 results. Headlines include(1):

➤Attributed to Liberty SiriusXM Group  SiriusXM reported strong third quarter 2021 financial results:

• Third quarter revenue of $2.20 billion; increase of 9% from prior year period
• Third quarter net income of $343 million; diluted EPS of $0.08
• Record quarterly adjusted EBITDA of $719 million, up 9% from prior year period
• SiriusXM self-pay net subscriber additions of 616,000 in third quarter and 1.1 million year-to-date
• SiriusXM increased 2021 subscriber and financial guidance on October 28th
• SiriusXM recently increased quarterly cash dividend by 50%
• Effected tax-free exchange of 5.3 million LSXMA shares for 43.7 million SIRI shares on November 3rd, taking Liberty Media’s ownership in SiriusXM to approximately 80.2%
• All future distributions to Liberty SiriusXM Group from SiriusXM will be tax-free
• Announced 2.25% Live Nation exchangeable debentures will be redeemed in full on December 1st put / call date; any exchanges expected to be settled in January 2022
• From August 1st through October 31st, Liberty repurchased 2.0 million LSXMA/K shares at an average price per share of $48.19 for total cash consideration of $98 million

➤Attributed to Formula One Group

• F1 announced record 23-race calendar for 2022 season running March 20th to November 20th
• Qatar will join 2021 calendar for November 19th weekend and signed additional 10-year deal to host race beginning 2023
• US Grand Prix was largest race in F1 history, with total attendance of 400,000 over three-day weekend
• Secured multiple broadcast deals with partners in Asia until end of 2022 following closure of Fox Sports channels in region, and extended agreement with Canal+ in France until 2024
• Formula 1 leverage of 5.6x near target range of 5.0x – 5.5x
• From August 1st through October 31st, Liberty repurchased 1.0 million FWONA shares at an average price per share of $45.02 for total cash consideration of $47 million

➤Attributed to Braves Group

• Braves claimed first World Series title since 1995 and 4th title in franchise history
• Braves are second in MLB in regular season attendance at 2.3 million

“Across the board, our companies had an outstanding third quarter. The Atlanta Braves convincingly claimed their first World Series title since 1995. Congratulations to the team, Braves management and all of Braves Country! SiriusXM posted record self-pay subscriber growth and increased guidance across all metrics. Our ownership in SiriusXM now exceeds 80%, and all future distributions from SiriusXM will be tax-free. Formula 1 set a record with US Grand Prix attendance over 400,000 for the weekend and is enjoying a suspenseful championship,” said Greg Maffei, Liberty Media President and CEO. 

“It’s amazing how much progress has been made over the past year given the challenging environment, and I am truly grateful for the hard work and dedication of all these team members to produce such impressive results.”