Sirius posts narrower loss on 33 pct revenue rise

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reported a narrower first-quarter loss Monday as revenue rose 33 percent.

Sirius lost $104.1 million, or 7 cents per share, in line with analysts' estimates. The results compared with a loss of $144.7 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue rose 33 percent to $270.4 million in the latest quarter.

Sirius said it ended the first quarter with 8.6 million subscribers, compared with 6.6 million in the same period a year earlier.

Sirius is still waiting for approval from the Federal Communications Commission for its acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., and said it would wait for word on that before issuing financial forecasts for 2008.

The deal has already received antitrust clearance from the Department of Justice.

Sirius reported that its costs for acquiring each subscriber _ a figure closely watched by investors _ fell to $91, an improvement over $101 in the same period last year.

Earlier Monday, XM reported that its own first-quarter loss widened to $129.3 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with $122.4 million, or 40 cents per share.

XM's revenue rose 17 percent to $308 million.

XM finished March with 9.33 million subscribers, up from 7.9 million a year earlier.