SIRIUS Satellite Radio Reports Record Revenue for Second Quarter 2005

SIRIUS Satellite Radio Reports Record Revenue for Second Quarter 2005

- Revenue Up 295% and Net Subscriber Additions Up 184% Over Prior Year Second Quarter

- 2005 Year-End Subscriber Guidance Increased to 3 Million and Revenue Guidance Increased to $225 Million

NEW YORK, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) today announced strong second quarter financial and operating results, driven by robust subscriber growth in its retail and automotive OEM distribution channels, and continued demand for its superior programming.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991118/NYTH125 )

As of June 30, 2005, SIRIUS had 1,814,626 subscribers. The second quarter subscriber figure reflects net additions of 365,931 subscribers, a 184% increase over the year-ago figure of 128,678 net additions.

For the third time this year, the company is raising its 2005 year-end subscriber guidance. SIRIUS now expects to have 3 million subscribers at year-end, up from previous guidance of approximately 2.7 million subscribers. The company attributes its revised outlook to continued momentum in the retail and automotive OEM distribution channels, and expectations of strong consumer demand for SIRIUS' exclusive programming, including the NFL, Martha Stewart Living Radio and Howard Stern, as well as the continued appeal of its commercial-free music.

"Our great second quarter results clearly indicate that momentum for SIRIUS is accelerating," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. "We beat Wall Street consensus expectations on all important metrics through a continuing focus on sound business execution, while maintaining low churn and very high levels of customer satisfaction. Plus, our automotive channel showed very strong results and consumers responded favorably to our second quarter retail promotion. Going into the second half of the year, we believe that creative new programming, additional automotive factory programs and the introduction of exciting new products will continue to drive our strong growth for the future."

SIRIUS reported record revenue of $52.2 million for the second quarter of 2005, a 295% increase over the $13.2 million reported for the year-ago quarter. Average monthly churn during the second quarter of 2005 was 1.4%.

The company reported subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) per gross subscriber addition of $160 for the second quarter of 2005, a 32% improvement over SAC per gross subscriber addition of $234 in the year-ago quarter.

During the second quarter of 2005, SIRIUS added 244,985 net subscribers from its retail channel, a 137% increase over 103,201 retail net additions in the year-ago quarter, and a 23% sequential increase over 198,558 retail net additions in the first quarter of 2005. The company also added 121,664 net subscribers from its automotive OEM channel, a 375% increase over 25,636 net additions from that channel in the second quarter of 2004, and a 13% sequential increase over 107,855 automotive OEM net additions in the first quarter of 2005.

SIRIUS reported a net loss of ($177.5) million, or ($0.13) per share, for the second quarter of 2005 compared with a net loss of ($136.8) million, or ($0.11) per share, for the second quarter of 2004.

During the quarter, SIRIUS and the Ford Motor Company announced an agreement that extends SIRIUS' exclusive relationship with Ford through September 2011, with the option for Ford to extend the agreement through September 2013. Ford and SIRIUS also recently announced that Ford will offer SIRIUS as a factory installed option on select vehicles beginning in August of this year. Ford and Lincoln Mercury expect to generate up to one million SIRIUS subscribers over the 2006 and 2007 model years, and expect to significantly increase factory-installed volumes in the 2008 model year. DaimlerChrysler's SIRIUS factory installation program continues to be on track, and they expect to produce more than 500,000 SIRIUS subscribers over the 2005 and 2006 model years.

SIRIUS continues to add more innovative programming to appeal to subscribers and advertisers. Beginning this month, SIRIUS will launch its second season of NFL play-by-play coverage as The Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, and introduce Martha Stewart Living Radio and other new programming offerings. The company is also preparing for the arrival of Howard Stern in January 2006 and, in 2007, NASCAR.

Guidance for 2005:

Reflecting a strong first half of 2005 and the company's expectation for continued strong subscriber growth in the second half, SIRIUS is raising subscriber guidance again to a year-end 2005 target of 3 million subscribers, up from approximately 2.7 million subscribers suggested by previous guidance.

Estimated average monthly churn is expected to be 1.5% for full year 2005 compared with previous guidance of 1.5% to 1.6%, given continued high levels of customer satisfaction. The company continues to expect SAC per gross subscriber addition to be under $145 for the full year 2005, with further declines expected in 2006.

SIRIUS expects to generate $225 million of total revenue in 2005, up from previous guidance of $215 million. The company expects to report an adjusted loss from operations of approximately ($540) million in 2005 compared with previous guidance of ($510) million, reflecting the impact on total SAC of increased subscriber growth. Total operating cash uses, capital expenditures and restricted investment activity, are expected to be approximately ($375) million in 2005, in line with previous guidance.

SIRIUS ended the second quarter of 2005 with approximately $577 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, which the company continues to believe is sufficient to reach free cash flow breakeven under its current business plan. SIRIUS' first quarter of positive free cash flow could be reached as early as the fourth quarter of 2006, further underscoring its expectations to generate positive free cash flow for the full year 2007.

Conference Call Information:

SIRIUS will hold a conference call today at 8 am ET to discuss operating and financial results. The public, members of the investment community and the press will have live access to the conference call via the company's website, http://www.sirius.com/, and on the SIRIUS service by tuning to SIRIUS Channel 127. A replay of the call will also be available on the SIRIUS website.

SECOND QUARTER 2005 VERSUS SECOND QUARTER 2004

For the second quarter of 2005, SIRIUS recognized total revenue of $52.2 million, compared with $13.2 million for the second quarter of 2004. This increase in revenue was driven by a net increase in the company's subscriber base of 1,334,285 subscribers from June 30, 2004 to June 30, 2005.

The company's adjusted loss from operations increased by $11.5 million to ($108.8) million in the second quarter of 2005 from ($97.3) million in the second quarter of 2004 (refer to the reconciliation table of GAAP loss from operations to adjusted loss from operations). This increase was driven by a 98%, or $34.0 million, increase in subscriber acquisition costs reflecting higher shipments of SIRIUS radios and chip sets and increased commissions to support a 190% increase in gross subscriber additions from 149,164 for the second quarter of 2004 to 432,687 for the second quarter of 2005.

Programming and content expenses increased by $5.7 million to $16.1 million for the second quarter of 2005 from $10.4 million for the second quarter of 2004. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in costs to acquire, create and produce content, specifically costs associated with sports-related programming initiatives, such as the NBA and college sports; additional on-air talent costs due to the expansion of the programming line-up; and increased variable broadcast royalties as a result of the increase in the company's subscriber base.

Engineering, design and development expenses increased by $5.9 million to $11.8 million for the second quarter of 2005 from $5.9 million for the second quarter of 2004. The increase was primarily attributable to costs associated with tooling and manufacturing upgrades at DaimlerChrysler and Ford to support factory installations of SIRIUS radios and product development costs for the company's next generation products.

During the second quarter of 2005, the company also had increases in customer service and billing expenses and general and administrative expenses. Customer service and billing expenses increased by $3.2 million to $7.7 million for the second quarter of 2005, from $4.5 million for the second quarter of 2004. This increase was primarily a direct result of the growth in the company's subscriber base. General and administrative expenses increased by $2.8 million to $14.1 million for the second quarter of 2005 from $11.3 million for the second quarter of 2004, primarily as a result of overhead expansion to support the growth of the business.

Such increases in expenses were offset by a decrease in satellite and transmission expenses of $1.5 million, primarily as a result of the company's decision not to renew its satellite insurance policy in August 2004, and a decrease in sales and marketing expenses of $1.2 million, primarily as a result of costs associated with the commencement of the company's sales efforts with RadioShack in June 2004 and costs for its 2004 NFL marketing campaign. The decreases in sales and marketing expenses were offset by increased automotive OEM revenue share and retail residuals in the second quarter of 2005 due to the increase in subscribers and higher personnel- related costs to support the growth of the company.

SIRIUS reported a net loss of ($177.5) million, or ($0.13) per share, for the second quarter of 2005 compared with a net loss of ($136.8) million, or ($0.11) per share, for the second quarter of 2004.

SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2005 VERSUS SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 2004

For the six months ended June 30, 2005, SIRIUS recognized total revenue of $95.4 million compared with $22.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004, a 324% year-over-year increase. This increase in revenue was driven by a net increase in the company's subscriber base of 1,334,285 subscribers from June 30, 2004 to June 30, 2005.

The company's adjusted loss from operations increased by $60.5 million to ($235.8) million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from ($175.3) million for the six months ended June 30, 2004 (refer to the reconciliation table of GAAP loss from operations to adjusted loss from operations). This increase was driven by a 120%, or $74.1 million, increase in subscriber acquisition costs reflecting higher shipments of SIRIUS radios and chip sets and increased commissions to support a 205% increase in gross subscriber additions from 257,896 for the six months ended June 30, 2004 to 787,395 for the six months ended June 30, 2005.

Programming and content expenses increased by $21.5 million to $40.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from $19.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in costs to create, produce and acquire content, such as the NFL, NBA and college sports; additional on-air talent costs due to the expansion of the programming line-up; and increased variable broadcast royalties as a result of the increase in the company's subscriber base.

Customer service and billing expenses increased by $8.8 million to $17.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from $8.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004. The increase was a direct result of the growth in the company's subscriber base and additional costs associated with a new billing system.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $8.0 million to $68.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from $60.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004. The increase was primarily a result of increased automotive OEM revenue share and retail residuals as a result of the increase in subscribers and additional personnel-related costs to support the growth of the company. In addition, the company incurred higher overall distribution costs in the first half of 2005 to support the expansion of the retail distribution channel, offset in part by costs associated with the commencement of the company's sales efforts with RadioShack in June 2004.

General and administrative expenses increased by $9.8 million to $29.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from $19.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004 primarily as a result of overhead expansion to support the growth of the business. In addition, engineering, design and development expenses increased by $11.8 million to $23.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2005 from $11.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004 primarily as a result of additional personnel-related costs to support research and development efforts, costs associated with tooling and manufacturing upgrades at DaimlerChrysler and Ford to support factory installations of SIRIUS radios and product development costs for the company's next generation products.

SIRIUS reported a net loss of ($371.2) million, or ($0.28) per share, for the six months ended June 30, 2005 compared with a net loss of ($280.9) million, or ($0.23) per share, for the six months ended June 30, 2004.

(Selected financial information follows).

SIRIUS defines adjusted loss from operations as GAAP loss from operations before depreciation and equity granted to third parties and employees. SIRIUS believes adjusted loss from operations is useful to investors because it represents operating expenses of the company excluding the effects of non-cash items.

SIRIUS defines average monthly revenue per subscriber, or ARPU, as the total earned subscriber revenue and net advertising revenue divided by the daily weighted average number of subscribers for the period.

SIRIUS defines subscriber acquisition costs, or SAC, per gross subscriber addition as SAC and the negative margin from the direct sale of SIRIUS radios and accessories divided by the number of gross subscriber additions for the period.

Adjusted loss from operations, ARPU and SAC per gross subscriber addition are not measures of financial performance under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and are used as measures of operating performance. As a result, these metrics may be susceptible to varying calculations; may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies; and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Quarterly Data
(Unaudited)

As of June 30,
2005 2004
Subscribers:
Beginning subscribers 1,448,695 351,663
Net additions 365,931 128,678
Ending subscribers 1,814,626 480,341
Retail (1) 1,354,798 400,429
OEM (1) 432,988 55,065
Hertz 26,840 24,847

(1) Retail subscribers include special markets subscribers. All
subscriber figures from the prior period have been reclassified to
conform to the current period presentation.

For the Three Months Ended For the Six Months Ended
June 30, June 30,
2005 2004 2005 2004

Gross subscriber
additions 432,687 149,164 787,395 257,896
Deactivated
subscribers 66,756 20,486 116,027 38,616
Average monthly
churn (1) 1.4% 1.6% 1.3% 1.8%
Subscriber acquisition
costs per gross
subscriber addition $160 $234 $173 $240
Monthly ARPU:
Average monthly
subscriber revenue
per subscriber
before effects of
Hertz subscribers
and mail-in
rebates $10.60 $11.19 $10.61 $11.35
Effects of Hertz
subscribers 0.05 (0.29) 0.03 (0.38)
Effects of mail-in
rebates (0.37) (0.36) (0.23) (0.70)
Average monthly
subscriber revenue
per subscriber 10.28 10.54 10.41 10.27
Average monthly
net advertising
revenue per
subscriber 0.22 0.11 0.18 0.07
ARPU $10.50 $10.65 $10.59 $10.34

(1) Average monthly churn is the number of deactivated subscribers
divided by average quarterly subscribers.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Financial Highlights
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

For the Three Months For the Six Months
Ended June 30, Ended June 30,
2005 2004 2005 2004
Revenue:
Subscriber revenue,
including effects
of mail-in
rebates $49,622 $12,950 $91,526 $22,152
Advertising revenue,
net of agency fees 1,052 130 1,586 150
Equipment revenue 1,503 140 2,270 190
Other revenue 17 10 28 29
Total revenue 52,194 13,230 95,410 22,521

Operating expenses:
Cost of services
(excludes
depreciation shown
separately below):
Satellite and
transmission 6,668 8,183 13,481 16,595
Programming and
content 16,147 10,405 40,635 19,095
Customer service
and billing 7,738 4,529 17,230 8,389
Cost of equipment 1,952 405 2,928 469
Sales and marketing 33,862 35,066 68,774 60,748
Subscriber
acquisition costs 68,693 34,711 135,786 61,692
General and
administrative 14,120 11,332 28,952 19,201
Engineering, design
and development 11,786 5,917 23,448 11,646
Depreciation 24,580 23,583 49,081 47,271
Equity granted to
third parties and
employees (1) 41,230 12,084 79,936 29,908
Total operating
expenses 226,776 146,215 460,251 275,014
Loss from
operations (174,582) (132,985) (364,841) (252,493)
Other income (expense):
Interest and
investment income 4,790 1,946 9,277 3,615
Interest expense (7,201) (5,269) (14,526) (28,968)
Other income 7 71 52 71
Total other income
(expense) (2,404) (3,252) (5,197) (25,282)
Loss before
income taxes (176,986) (136,237) (370,038) (277,775)
Income tax expense (560) (560) (1,120) (3,081)
Net loss $(177,546) $(136,797) $(371,158) $(280,856)
Net loss per share
(basic and diluted) $(0.13) $(0.11) $(0.28) $(0.23)
Weighted average
common shares
outstanding
(basic and diluted) 1,324,270 1,235,920 1,319,318 1,226,764

(1) Allocation of equity granted to third parties and employees to other
operating expenses:

Satellite and
transmission $429 $171 $988 $595
Programming and content 5,098 1,046 10,005 2,877
Customer service and
billing 126 46 265 132
Sales and marketing 7,228 3,380 20,639 15,383
Subscriber acquisition
costs 12,533 3,965 18,761 4,067
General and
administrative 8,332 2,907 15,609 5,256
Engineering, design
and development 7,484 569 13,669 1,598
Total equity granted
to third parties
and employees $41,230 $12,084 $79,936 $29,908

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Financial Highlights
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

Selected balance sheet data:
As of
June 30, 2005 December 31, 2004

Cash, cash equivalents and
marketable securities $577,369 $759,168
Restricted investments 92,615 97,321
Working capital 306,384 541,526
Total assets 1,741,534 1,957,613
Long-term debt 654,307 656,274
Total liabilities 1,024,483 956,980
Accumulated deficit (2,237,014) (1,865,856)
Stockholders' equity 717,051 1,000,633

The following table reconciles GAAP loss from operations, as reported, to adjusted loss from operations:

For the Three Months Ended For the Six Months Ended
June 30, June 30,
2005 2004 2005 2004

GAAP loss from
operations,
as reported $(174,582) $(132,985) $(364,841) $(252,493)
Depreciation 24,580 23,583 49,081 47,271
Equity granted
to third parties
and employees 41,230 12,084 79,936 29,908
Adjusted loss
from operations $(108,772) $(97,318) $(235,824) $(175,314)

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
Financial Highlights
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

For the Three Months For the Six Months
Ended June 30, Ended June 30,
2005 2004 2005 2004

Cash flows from
operating activities:
Net loss $(177,546) $(136,797) $(371,158) $(280,856)
Adjustments to
reconcile net
loss to net cash
used in operating
activities:
Depreciation 24,580 23,583 49,081 47,271
Non-cash
interest expense 761 573 1,523 20,595
Loss on disposal
of assets 125 - 252 19
Expense for equity
granted to third
parties and
employees 41,230 12,084 79,936 29,908
Deferred income
taxes 560 560 1,120 3,081
Changes in operating
assets and
liabilities:

Marketable
securities - - 16 (92)
Prepaid expenses
and other
current assets (13,656) 4,666 (15,761) (29)
Other long-term
assets 1,635 (2,446) 478 (3,414)
Accrued interest (2,862) (868) (126) 2,876
Accounts payable
and accrued
expenses 31,840 26,852 26,002 29,473
Deferred revenue 30,714 9,473 50,374 17,968
Other long-term
liabilities (2,018) (983) (3,542) (1,974)
Net cash used
in operating
activities (64,637) (63,303) (181,805) (135,174)
Cash flows from
investing activities:
Additions to
property and
equipment (3,975) (7,390) (10,863) (10,340)
Sale of property
and equipment 47 - 59 28
Purchase of
restricted
investments - - (6,291) (85,000)
Release of
restricted
investments 10,997 - 10,997 -
Maturities of
available-for-
sale securities - - 4,835 25,000
Net cash
provided by
(used in)
investing
activities 7,069 (7,390) (1,263) (70,312)
Cash flows from
financing activities:
Proceeds from
issuance of
long-term debt, net - - - 293,600
Proceeds from
exercise of
stock options 5,111 3,694 6,104 5,147
Proceeds from
exercise of
warrants - - - 19,850
Other - (34) (8) (67)
Net cash
provided by
financing
activities 5,111 3,660 6,096 318,530
Net (decrease) increase
in cash and cash
equivalents (52,457) (67,033) (176,972) 113,044
Cash and cash equivalents
at the beginning
of period 629,376 701,056 753,891 520,979
Cash and cash equivalents
at the end of period $576,919 $634,023 $576,919 $634,023

E-SIRI

Contacts for SIRIUS:

Jim Collins
Media
212-901-6422
jcollins@siriusradio.com

Michelle McKinnon
Analysts
212-584-5285
mmckinnon@siriusradio.com

Jaymie VanValkenburgh
Investors
212-584-5158
jvanvalkenburgh@siriusradio.com

About SIRIUS

SIRIUS delivers more than 120 channels of the best commercial-free music, compelling talk shows, news and information, and the most exciting sports programming to listeners across the country in digital quality sound. SIRIUS offers 65 channels of 100% commercial-free music, and features over 55 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather for a monthly subscription fee of only $12.95. SIRIUS also broadcasts live play-by- play games of the NFL and NBA, and is the Official Satellite Radio partner of the NFL.

SIRIUS radios for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are manufactured by Alpine, Audiovox, Blaupunkt, Clarion, Delphi, Jensen, JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sanyo and XACT Communications. Available in more than 25,000 retail locations, SIRIUS radios can be purchased at major retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Office Depot, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart and RadioShack. SIRIUS is also available at heavy truck dealers and truck stops nationwide.

SIRIUS radios are currently offered in vehicles from Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jeep(R), Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln-Mercury, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Scion, Toyota, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo. Hertz currently offers SIRIUS at major locations around the country.

Click on http://www.sirius.com/ to listen to SIRIUS live, or to find a SIRIUS retailer or car dealer in your area.

Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance with respect to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the key factors that have a direct bearing on our operational results are: our dependence upon third parties, including manufacturers of SIRIUS radios, retailers, automakers and programming partners, our competitive position and any events which affect the useful life of our satellites.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991118/NYTH125
Source: SIRIUS Satellite Radio

CONTACT: Jim Collins, Media, +1-212-901-6422, jcollins@siriusradio.com,
or Michelle McKinnon, Analysts, +1-212-584-5285, mmckinnon@siriusradio.com, or
Jaymie VanValkenburgh, Investors, +1-212-584-5158,
jvanvalkenburgh@siriusradio.com, all of SIRIUS Satellite Radio

Web site: http://www.sirius.com/

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