SiriusXM's second-quarter subscription loss narrows on strong content demand

(Reuters) - SiriusXM posted a lower-than-expected drop in subscribers who directly pay for its satellite radio service, helped by steady demand for its content that includes the Howard Stern show.

Decline in the key subscription segment narrowed sequentially and from a year ago largely due to strong customer retention, the company said.

"We still expect to see slightly better self-pay net adds this year compared to last," CEO Jennifer Witz said.

The company's self-pay subscribers fell 100,000 in the quarter ended June 30, compared with a decline of 132,000 a year ago.

Analysts at Visible Alpha were estimating a loss of 153,140.

However, the company's second-quarter churn, which is the rate of customers who stopped using its services, was 1.5% among self-pay users, same as a year ago.

Paid promotional subscribers declined about 73,000, which the company largely attributed to a shift towards unpaid trial subscriptions by certain automakers.

SiriusXM's quarterly revenue of $2.18 billion came in below LSEG estimates of $2.20 billion.

However, its advertising revenue of $443 million was above analysts' average expectation of $331.2 million.

Net income for the quarter stood at $316 million, compared with $310 million a year ago.

Free cash flow rose to $343 million from $323 million a year ago.

The company expects to close the announced transaction with Liberty Media after the market closes on Sept 9, finance chief Tom Barry said.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

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