Liberty Media Swings to Fourth-Quarter Operating Profit

Liberty Media Corporation Friday reported fourth quarter and year end 2021 results. In terms of operating income, Liberty SiriusXM Group swung from a $527 million loss to a $450 million profit for the fourth quarter, the Braves’ loss narrowed from $35 million to $1 million, and the Formula One operating result swung from a loss of $41 million to a profit of $62 million.

Headlines include:

Attributed to Liberty SiriusXM Group

• SiriusXM reported strong full year 2021 results
• SiriusXM's 2021 revenue reached a record $8.70 billion; an increase of 8% compared to 2020
• Full-year 2021 net income climbed to $1.31 billion; diluted EPS of $0.32
• Record full-year 2021 adjusted EBITDA(2) of $2.77 billion, an increase of 8% year-over-year
• SiriusXM exceeded all 2021 financial & operating guidance; issued new 2022 guidance on February 1st
• SiriusXM announced a special dividend of $0.25 per share, returning an additional $1 billion to stockholders
• Estimated proceeds to Liberty of approximately $770 million, net of distributions to exchangeable bondholders
• Liberty Media’s ownership of SiriusXM was 81.2% as of January 28, 2022
• From November 1, 2021 through January 31, 2022, Liberty repurchased 3.8 million LSXMA/K shares at an average price per share of $49.57 for total cash consideration of $189 million
• Settled exchanges of the 2.25% Live Nation exchangeable debentures on January 21, 2022 for total consideration of $664 million

Attributed to Formula One Group

• F1 successfully completed record 22 race calendar in 2021
• Planning for a new record 23 race calendar in 2022, beginning in Bahrain on March 20th
• Audience figures grew across TV and digital platforms
• Cumulative TV viewers up 4% to 1.55 billion; average TV viewers per race was 70.3 million
• Cumulative viewership in US up 58%
• Social media followers up 40% to 49 million with 1.5 billion aggregate social engagements
• Announced multiple renewals with race promoter partners, including China, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Spain, Bahrain and the United States
• From November 1, 2021 through January 31, 2022, Liberty effectively repurchased 2.2 million FWONA/K shares at an average price per share of $58.59
• Repurchased 472 thousand FWONA shares
• Repurchased $64 million face value of 1% FWONK cash convertible notes due 2023, effectively retiring 1.7 million underlying FWONK shares

Attributed to Braves Group

• Completed sale of minor league teams in January 2022; teams remain affiliates of Braves for future player development

Greg Maffei

“It was a strong end to 2021 for the Liberty companies. The finish to the Formula 1 World Championship could not have been more suspenseful. The compelling action on the track continues to power the business’s flywheel and we recently made numerous announcements around value-creating agreements. SiriusXM hit record revenue and adjusted EBITDA levels and announced a $1 billion special dividend. The Atlanta Braves are still basking in the glory of their World Series title. Live Nation benefited from incredible fan demand in the back half of the year and all leading indicators point to record performance in 2022,” said Greg Maffei, Liberty Media President and CEO. 

“We enter this year energized and excited for the next areas of growth across the board.”