LIBERTY MEDIA CORPORATION REPORTS

THIRD QUARTER 2015 FINANCIAL RESULTS

 

Englewood, Colorado, November 4, 2015 - Liberty Media Corporation ("Liberty Media") (NASDAQ: LMCA, LMCB, LMCK) today reported third quarter 2015 results.  Highlights include (1):

 

 

“SiriusXM had another outstanding quarter, reaching record revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin.  Subscribers reached an all-time high of almost 29 million, and SiriusXM continues to extend its lead in exclusive, valuable content,” stated Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty Media.  “At Liberty, we continued to repurchase our shares and completed the hedging period on our forward purchase of Live Nation shares. Upon settlement, our ownership of Live Nation will increase to 34.4%.”

 

 

Liberty Media

Liberty Media's revenue increased $100 million to $1.3 billion in the third quarter.  Adjusted OIBDA(2) increased $81 million to $473 million and operating income increased $72 million to $321 million.    The increases in revenue, adjusted OIBDA and operating income were primarily due to operating results at SiriusXM.

 

SiriusXM

SiriusXM is a separate publicly traded company and additional information about SiriusXM can be obtained through its website and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SiriusXM reported its stand-alone third quarter results on October 22,  2015.  For presentation purposes in this release, we include below the results of SiriusXM, as reported by SiriusXM, without regard to the purchase accounting adjustments applied by us for purposes of our financial statements.  Liberty Media believes the presentation of financial results as reported by SiriusXM is useful to investors as the comparability of those results is best understood in the context of SiriusXM's historical financial presentation.  For a reconciliation of revenue, adjusted OIBDA (as defined by Liberty Media) and operating income for SiriusXM's stand-alone operating results as reported by SiriusXM to those results as reported by Liberty Media, see Liberty Media's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30,  2015.

 

Highlights of SiriusXM's earnings release included the following:

 

Share Repurchases

Between the reclassification of the original Liberty Capital tracking stock on March 3, 2008 and July 23, 2014, Liberty Media repurchased shares of Series A common stock for aggregate cash consideration of approximately $2.9 billion, representing 51% of shares outstanding(3).  From August 1, 2015 through October 31, 2015, Liberty Media repurchased approximately 1.0 million shares of Series C common stock at an average cost per share of $36.87 for total cash consideration of $38.3 million. For the period covering the creation of the Liberty Media Series C common stock on July 23, 2014 through October 31, 2015, Liberty Media repurchased approximately 8.9 million shares of Series A  and
Series C common stock collectively at an average cost per share of $37.92 for total cash consideration of $338 million,  

representing 2.6% of shares outstanding(4).  The total remaining repurchase authorization for Liberty Media stock is approximately $1.3 billion. 

FOOTNOTES

 

NOTES

Unless otherwise noted, the foregoing discussion compares financial information for the three months ended September 30, 2015 to the same period in 2014.

 

The following financial information with respect to Liberty Media's equity affiliates and available for sale securities is intended to supplement Liberty Media's condensed consolidated balance sheet and statement of operations to be included in its Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2015.

 

Fair Value of Corporate Public Holdings 

 

 

 

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Cash and Debt

The following presentation is provided to separately identify cash and liquid investments and debt information.

 

 

 

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Total Liberty Media cash and liquid investments decreased  $234 million during the quarter. Cash from operations at SiriusXM and additional borrowings at SiriusXM were more than offset by shares repurchased by SiriusXM, shares repurchased by Liberty Media and capital expenditures.  Included in the consolidated cash and liquid investments balance at September 30, 2015 is $153 million at SiriusXM.  Although SiriusXM is a consolidated subsidiary, it is a separate public company with a significant non-controlling interest, therefore Liberty Media does not have ready access to SiriusXM’s cash balance.  Excluding cash held at SiriusXM, Liberty Media's cash and liquid investments balance at September 30, 2015 was $454 million.

 

Total Liberty Media debt increased by $0.3 billion primarily as a result of borrowings under the SiriusXM revolving credit facility.

 

Important Notice: Liberty Media Corporation (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCB, LMCK) President and CEO, Greg Maffei, will discuss Liberty Media's earnings release in a conference call which will begin at 4:30 p.m. (E.S.T.) on November 4, 2015.  The call can be accessed by dialing (844)  838-8043 or (678)  509-7480 at least 10 minutes prior to the start time.  The call will also be broadcast live across the Internet and archived on our website.  To access the webcast go to http://www.libertymedia.com/events.  Links to this press release will also be available on the Liberty Media website.

 

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about business strategies, market potential, future financial prospects, growth of SiriusXM's subscriber base, the future financial performance of SiriusXM, the continuation of our stock repurchase plan, the repurchase activity of SiriusXM,  the construction of the new stadium for the Atlanta Braves and the associated mixed use development, the settlement of our forward purchase of Live Nation shares and other matters that are not historical facts.  These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including, without limitation, possible changes in market acceptance of new products or services, regulatory matters affecting our businesses, the competitive position of SiriusXM versus other radio and audio entertainment providers, the ability of SiriusXM to attract and retain subscribers, the dependence of SiriusXM upon the auto industry, general economic conditions, the failure of SiriusXM’s satellites (which, in most cases, are not insured), the interruption or failure of SiriusXM’s information and communication systems, the security of personal customer information, royalties SiriusXM pays for music rights (which increase over time), the unfavorable outcome of pending or future litigation, the failure to realize benefits of acquisitions, rapid technological and industry change, failure of third parties to perform, changes in consumer protection laws and their enforcement, continued access to capital on terms acceptable to Liberty Media,  changes in law and market conditions conducive to stock repurchases.  These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this presentation, and Liberty Media expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Media's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Please refer to the publicly filed documents of Liberty Media, including the most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, for additional information about Liberty Media and about the risks and uncertainties related to Liberty Media's business which may affect the statements made in this presentation.

 

Contact: Courtnee Ulrich (720) 875-5420

 

LIBERTY MEDIA CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (unaudited)

 

 

 

LIBERTY MEDIA CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (unaudited)

 

 

LIBERTY MEDIA CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

 

SCHEDULE 1

 

This press release includes a presentation of adjusted OIBDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, for Liberty Media, together with a reconciliation to operating income, as determined under GAAP.  Liberty Media defines adjusted OIBDA as revenue less operating expenses, and selling, general and administrative expenses, excluding all stock based compensation, and excludes from that definition depreciation and amortization, restructuring and impairment charges and separately reported legal settlements that are included in the measurement of operating income pursuant to GAAP.

 

Liberty Media believes adjusted OIBDA is an important indicator of the operational strength and performance of its businesses, including each business' ability to service debt and fund capital expenditures.  In addition, this measure allows management to view operating results and perform analytical comparisons and benchmarking between businesses and identify strategies to improve performance.  Because adjusted OIBDA is used as a measure of operating performance, Liberty Media views operating income as the most directly comparable GAAP measure.  Adjusted OIBDA is not meant to replace or supersede operating income or any other GAAP measure, but rather to supplement such GAAP measures in order to present investors with the same information that Liberty Media's management considers in assessing the results of operations and performance of its assets.  Please see the attached schedules for applicable reconciliations.

 

The following table provides a reconciliation of adjusted OIBDA for Liberty Media to operating income calculated in accordance with GAAP for the three months ended September 30, 2014, December 31, 2014, March 31, 2015, June 30, 2015 and September 30, 2015,  respectively.

 

QUARTERLY SUMMARY

 

 

 

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SCHEDULE 2

 

This press release also includes a presentation of Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure used by SiriusXM, together with a reconciliation to SiriusXM's stand-alone net income, as determined under GAAP.  SiriusXM defines Adjusted EBITDA as follows:  EBITDA is defined as net income before interest expense, net of amounts capitalized; income tax expense and depreciation and amortization. SiriusXM adjusts EBITDA to exclude the impact of other income, loss on change in value of derivatives as well as certain other charges discussed below. This measure is one of the primary Non-GAAP financial measures on which SiriusXM (i) evaluates the performance of its on-going core operating results period over period, (ii) bases its internal budgets and (iii) compensated management. As such, adjusted EBITDA is a Non-GAAP financial performance measure that excludes (if applicable): (i) certain adjustments as a result of the purchase price accounting for the Sirius and XM merger, (ii) depreciation and amortization, (iii) share-based payment expense and (iv) other significant operating expense (income) that does not relate to the on-going performance of SiriusXM’s business. The purchase price accounting adjustments include: (i) the elimination of deferred revenue associated with the investment in XM Canada, (ii) recognition of deferred subscriber revenues not recognized in purchase price accounting, and (iii) elimination of the benefit of deferred credits on executory contracts, which are primarily attributable to third party arrangements with programming providers. SiriusXM believes adjusted EBITDA is a useful measure of the underlying trend of its operating performance, which provides useful information about its business apart from the costs associated with its physical plant, capital structure and purchase price accounting. SiriusXM believes investors find this Non-GAAP financial measure useful when analyzing its results and comparing its operating performance to the performance of other communications, entertainment and media companies. SiriusXM believes investors use current and projected adjusted EBITDA to estimate its current and prospective enterprise value and to make investment decisions. Because SiriusXM funds and builds-out its satellite radio system through the periodic raising and expenditure of large amounts of capital, its results of operations reflect significant charges for depreciation expense. The exclusion of depreciation and amortization expense is useful given significant variation in depreciation and amortization expense that can result from the potential variations in estimated useful lives, all of which can vary widely across different industries or among companies within the same industry. SiriusXM believes the exclusion of share-based payment expense is useful given share-based payment expense is not directly related to the operational conditions of its business. SiriusXM also believes the exclusion of the portion of the pre-1972 sound recordings legal settlement recognized in June 2015 is useful as it does not represent an expense incurred as part of normal operations for the period. The portion of the pre-1972 sound recordings legal settlement related to the period of July 2015 through December 2017 is not excluded from adjusted EBITDA as the royalty expense relates to the on-going performance of SiriusXM’s business.

 

Adjusted EBITDA has certain limitations in that it does not take into account the impact to SiriusXM's statements of comprehensive income of certain expenses, including share-based payment expense and certain purchase price accounting for the merger of Sirius and XM. SiriusXM endeavors to compensate for the limitations of the non-GAAP measure presented by also providing the comparable GAAP measure with equal or greater prominence and descriptions of the reconciling items, including quantifying such items, to derive the non-GAAP measure.  Investors that wish to compare and evaluate SiriusXM's operating results after giving effect for these costs, should refer to net income as disclosed in its unaudited consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Since adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial performance measure, SiriusXM's calculation of adjusted EBITDA may be susceptible to varying calculations; may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies; and should not be considered in isolation, as a substitute for, or superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. The reconciliation of SiriusXM's stand-alone net income to adjusted EBITDA is calculated as follows:

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE 3

 

SiriusXM's free cash flow derives from cash flow provided by operating activities, capital expenditures and restricted and other investment activity. The calculation for free cash flow is as follows (in thousands).