Liberty Media To Hold Q1 Conference Call May 8, 2009 At 12:00 EST
Investors will have barely had a chance to digest the Sirius XM Radio conference call when the next important call comes up. Liberty Media will be holding their Q1 2009 conference call at 12:00 PM EST in Boston. While the conference call will not likely speak directly to Sirius XM Radio, it is a unique opportunity to hear Liberty’s Gregory Maffei speak. Maffei has been tapped to join the Board of Sirius XM radio, and fills one of the three seats sought by Liberty. Because of the number of shares Liberty owns, they have the right to select up to six board members at Sirius XM Radio.
One of Maffei’s main responsibilities with Liberty was presiding over the branch of the Liberty tree that was in control of Direct TV. I feel it is important that investors get to know Maffei because there is potential that he will be a very influential member of the board. The current contract of CEO Mel Karmazin expires in October of this year. At this point there has been no announcement as to the status of Karmazin’s contract. While I do not see him being ousted, he does have a personal decision to make. If he should decide to retire or move on, Maffei would likely be on the short list of potential candidates to take the helm. Bear in mind, this is speculation.
The importance of understanding Liberty rests in the structure of their current deal. They already control 40% of Sirius XM, and have rights to raise that percentage to 49.9%. After two years, they could raise their stake even higher if they desire. Malone is a deal maker, and because of this, it is good for investors to garner an understanding of the workings of Liberty. This is not to say that Malone is shopping things around at this moment, but indeed he has plans that go well beyond the interest payments on the loan to Sirius XM.
If you are serious about your investment in Sirius XM, it is worth your while to invest an hour into listening to the Liberty call.
Position – Long Sirius XM Radio
I have a question that has nothing to do with this article.
If siriusXm is now going to be 350mm ETIBDA how much more would this figure have to raise before they are truely cash flow positive for 2009? Is it possible that they could go cash flow positive this year at all?
I dont know how to figure this. Thanks
What a perfect question for the forums… since as you said yourself… it has nothing to do with this article 😉
i asked tyler this question on the show last night, he projected it would take till round late 2010 maybe 2011 he didnt answer how much it would take but if u look at their actuall loses compared to their ebitda that might give u a clear picture. over 100 million positive ebitda does not cover the over 200 million actual loss for the quarter, if they continue to lose 200 million a quarter they would need over 200 million in ebitda a quarter to cover those loses and actually make a profit. Hopefully we dont see siri spending as much on the liberty deal 2nd qtr as they did 1st qtr.
also im not an expert tyler could clearly answer this question better than i can or homer.
SiriusXm has stated they would be 600mm EBITDA for 2010 and 400mm free cash. With those projections being before they announced yesterday that they would be 350mm EBITDA it just made me wonder if there was any chance this company goes cash free this year. Lets say for example they see more cost savings or synergies in 2q and then project a 400mm EBITDA, How far does that number have to go before they see the $$$.
I thought yesterdays news was all really good except subs but who didnt expect we would lose subs.
Subs are important but not as important as this company making money. If they had only 10 million subs and was making 500mm a year then who would really care that they only had the 10 million subs right?