Orbitcast is live blogging the Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. 4Q07/FY 2007 conference call. Just keep refreshing the page to catch all the updates..

• Listening to the "forward looking statements" disclosure...
• Karmazin: I wish I was here to talk about the merger approval
  
• Despite the merger, "we've executed almost flawlessly"

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) posted a narrower loss for the fourth quarter, driven by the highest annual gross subscriber growth is satellite radio history.

The company saw a 45% increase in revenue to $922.1 million, and ended 4Q07 with positive free cash flow. Sirius also ended 2H07 with positive free cash flow (which is great news).

Sirius ended the year with 8,321,785 subscribers, up 38% from 6,024,555 subscribers at the end of 2006. Retail subs increased 15% to 4,640,709; OEM subs increased 87% to 3,665,632.

4Q07 total revenue increased 29% to $249.8 million from fourth quarter 2006 revenue of $193.4 million.

ARPU was $10.46 in 2007 and $10.05 for the fourth quarter 2007. Average self-pay monthly churn was 1.6% in 2007, and all-in average monthly churn for 2007 was 2.2%. For the fourth quarter 2007 average self-pay monthly churn was 1.7% and all-in churn was 2.3%.

SAC per gross subscriber addition was $101 for 2007 improving 11% over 2006's SAC per gross subscriber addition of $114. SAC per gross add was $90.

Sirius reported a net loss of ($565.3) million, or ($0.39) per share, for 2007; for 4Q07 the net loss was ($166.2) million, or ($0.11) per share.

The adjusted loss from operations for 2007 improved to ($327.4) million, as compared to the adjusted loss from operations of ($513.1) million in 2006. For 4Q07, the adjusted loss from operations was ($107.2) million, an improvement of 36% as compared with the ($166.8) million adjusted loss from operations in the fourth quarter 2006.

Sirius reported a full-year 2007 free cash flow loss of ($218.6), a 56% improvement over the 2006 free cash flow loss of ($500.7) million. The company posted positive free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2007 of $75.9 million, up 150% from the $30.4 million in positive free cash flow reported in the fourth quarter of 2006.

For the first time in the company's history, Sirius also posted positive free cash flow of $8.1 million for the second half of the year.

See the full financials after the jump...

Aside from having some of the most entertaining photos in mainstream media, the New York Post also has a source "familiar with the situation" that has provided the publication with a status update at the DOJ.

According to this source, junior staffers were given a final chance to make their case against merger approval - known as "last rights" - to Antitrust Division Chief Thomas Barnett, before he signs off on the deal.

The results of these "last rights" are unknown - but this is fairly consistent with what the analyst community sources have been hearing for some time now.

In early November, Cowen & Company issued a report stating that the Antitrust Chief would approve the merger, "despite a staff recommendation against the deal."

A few weeks later, Bear Stearns wrote that junior staffers at the DOJ are recommending blocking the merger, but that higher officer deputy officials likely disagree and that Barnett will rule along with the higher officials in approval of the deal.

That was several months ago, and if the Post's sources are correct, then the DOJ's tune hasn't changed. Only time will tell for sure though.

[New York Post via Orbitcast Forums]
Thanks Squeaky!

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin confirmed recently that the agency was coordinating efforts with the Department of Justice, but had yet to reach a final decision on the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Speaking informally at the NBA Tech Summit, Martin also said that while the Commission has received all the necessary information from the two satellite radio companies, they have yet to set a timeline in reaching a final decision.

According to paidContent:

"Traditionally the commission doesn't act on those after the Department of Justice --99 out of 100 times the Department of Justice goes first and the Department of Justice hasn't acted yet on that merger. We have some more information we requested at the beginning of the year from the companies so that we're trying to finalize our conclusions but we're coordinating with Department of Justice. I don't have a timeline."

Today marks the exact one-year anniversary since Sirius-XM merger was announced.

[paidContent]

Goldman Sachs is joining the rising chorus of analysts who claim that the Department of Justice is nearing approval over the Sirius and XM merger.

On Tuesday, Stanford Group said the DOJ is "near a ruling" on the satellite radio merger. Then on the following day, Stifel Nicolaus issued a note stating "increasing chatter" surrounding the pending DOJ ruling.

Today, Goldman Sachs chimes in stating that channel checks indicate that it now appears "less likely that the DOJ will block the merger."

"Longer term, merged or unmerged, our outlook for satellite radio is cautious given our view of unrealistic cash flow expectations, and hence valuation risk," he said in a client note.

[AP, 24/7 Wall St via Orbitcast Forums]

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer David Frear extended his contract with the company, and will receive an increase in base salary, it was revealed today in an SEC filing.

Frear's employment agreement was set to expire in July of this year, but has been extended to July 2011.

Also, effective August 1st, 2008, David Frear's base salary will get a healthy boost to $750,000 per year. That's up from an annual salary of $525,000.

Sirius also granted Frear with 300,000 restricted stock units and 1,500,000 options to purchase common stock.

In recent months, Mel Karmazin had mentioned that the post-merger management team was not yet fully in place. If this is any indication, it looks like Mr. Frear doesn't have anything to worry about.

[SEC Filing]

Shares of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. jumped yesterday after Janco analyst April Horace upgraded both companies and speculated that the merger will be approved.

Horace raised her rating of XM shares to "Buy" from "Accumulate" on the assumption the deal will eventually close. She also upgraded her rating of Sirius shares to "Accumulate" from "Market Perform."

Janco had remained on the sidelines in terms of synergy estimates, because "we didn’t believe the synergies were that great." But in yesterday's note, and after nearly a year of analysis, Horace estimated that the combination could achieve cost savings of $4.1 billion over the next 6 years.

"It remains to be seen whether or not the DOJ approval will arrive before Sirius reports its financial results, sometime in the second half of February," Horace wrote. Sirius and XM have the option to cancel the merger (without penalty) if it doesn't win regulatory approval by March 1st, but Horace believes the companies will extend the agreement.

"We believe that the DOJ will make an announcement before March 1, and that the companies will extend the March 1 date if they are still waiting for FCC approval," the analyst said.

[AP]