XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the larger of two companies in the emerging satellite radio field, reported a smaller loss for its second quarter Thursday and a 55 percent increase in subscribers.
XM also raised its forecast for subscriber additions for the second half of 2005, saying it now expects to end the year with 6 million subscribers versus its earlier target of 5.5 million.
XM's loss narrowed to $146.6 million, or 70 cents per share, from a loss of $166.1 million, or 84 cents, the year before. The company's deficit matched the average estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
Revenue totaled $125.5 million, more than twice revenue of $53 million a year earlier and topping the analysts' forecast of $122.3 million.
XM's quarterly subscription revenue jumped to $113.4 million from $48.6 million a year ago. The company signed up 647,226 net subscribers — a 55 percent increase over last year's additions — which more than doubled its total users to 4.4 million from 2.1 million a year ago.
The company spent $98 per gross subscriber addition, a 3 percent improvement from an average customer-acquisition costs of $101 in last year's second quarter.
