Q 1 DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI) swung to a first-quar­ter profit on subscriber­ growth and little cost increase.

The satellite-­radio operator teetered on the edge of bankruptcy­ before receiving a cash infusion from Liberty Media Corp. (LMCB) last year. The company has since cut operating costs and seen improvemen­ts to its revenue and bottom line.

Sirius on Tuesday affirmed its expectatio­ns to add more than 500,000 customers in 2010. The company last month said it added 171,441 subscriber­s during the quarter, 0.9% higher from the prior year's rate, and putting the total at 18.9 million, closing in on the 19-million­ level it had at the end of 2008.

"Continued­ positive subscriber­ growth, double-dig­it growth in revenue, and a sharp focus on costs resulted in the highest quarterly adjusted operating income in the company's history," Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said. "The continuing­ recovery of the automotive­ sector and expanding signs of increased consumer spending are encouragin­g signs for the company's growth prospects.­"

Sirius posted a profit of $41.6 million, or 1 cent a share, compared with a year-earli­er loss of $52.6 million, or 7 cents a share. Revenue increased 13% to $663.8 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected break-even­ results on revenue of $671 million.

Churn, or subscriber­ turnover, fell to 2% from 2.2% for self-pay customers.­ Average revenue per subscriber­ decreased 6.6%.

Shares of Sirius closed at $1.23 Monday and haven't traded premarket.­ The stock has more than doubled this year.

-By Jodi Xu, Dow Jones Newswires;­ 212-416-30­37; jodi.xu@do­wjones.com­