TORONTO – XM Satellite Radio Canada’s owner, Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings, said today it passed the 147,000 subscriber mark at November 30, 2006.
"We are off to a promising second year of operations. Our dominant position in the automotive market was bolstered with our exclusive multi-year agreement with Hyundai, who joined GM Canada, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, Harley Davidson and Subaru as XM automotive distribution partners. XM Canada now controls an 80 per cent share of the factory installed satellite radios in 2007," said John Bitove, chairman and CEO of CSR.
"We continue to build our subscriber base and will work to enhance our already extensive automotive network and innovative multi-channel communication partnerships," said Bitove. "Our goal at XM Canada is to be available anywhere and at any time with the best in satellite radio programming. "
Financially, it’s still start-up mode. For the three-month period ended November 30, 2006, revenue increased 12% over Q3, to $3.8 million, due to an overall increase in subscriptions, activation fees, sales of radios from the direct fulfillment channel, advertising revenue on Canadian-produced channels and other revenue from partnership subscribers.
Adjusted Operating Loss for the three-month period was $12.8 million. "As we had launched operations a year ago, the corresponding prior first quarter included only eight days of operations after our November 22, 2005 launch and as a result, the figures are not comparative," says the press release.
"For the first quarter, Average Revenue Per Unit was $11.30. We incurred Subscriber Acquisition Costs of $46, down significantly from $59 the previous quarter, primarily as a result of trial auto manufacturer subscribers converting to self-paying subscribers. Cost Per Gross Addition of $311 was up from $242 the previous quarter due to increased media expenditures at the end of the first fiscal quarter, in preparation for a significant advertising presence for the holiday selling season."
Operational expenses for the three-month period ending November 30, 2006 included general and administrative (G&A) expenses of $4.8 million, marketing of $6.3 million and cost of revenue of $5.6 million.
The company did not release any sales figures through the 2006 holiday season.
"We will continue to aggressively pursue and win market share through our pioneering initiatives and we are well on our way to achieving our goal of one million subscribers by 2010. We are also on track to achieve our goal of realizing an operating profit of $100 million by 2012," added Bitove.
