XM Satellite Radio had 201,544 subscribers at Sept. 30 close of i...

target of 350,000 by year-end and for first time said it was forecasting reaching 1.2 million by end of 2003. CEO Hugh Panero told financial analysts XM had met all Wall St. expectations on subscriber targets and earnings projections, but he conceded XM had failed to reach internal goal of procuring new financing by announcement of 3rd-quarter results. He indicated talks with new and existing investors could yield agreement by mid-Dec. Meanwhile, to “stretch” $84.3 million in existing cash reserves, company was negotiating deferred or reduced payments under existing contracts and was cutting work force -- eliminating 80 of 448 jobs recently. XM said it had been in talks with GM for deferral of up to $200 million in payment obligations, including $100 million due in 2003 and 2004. But deal with GM is contingent on XM securing at least $200 million in new financing and making unspecified “modifications” in its capital structure. Other developments: (1) Panero said XM had seen no competitive impact from rival Sirius. (2) XM now estimated life expectancy of its first orbiting Boeing 702- class satellite, “Rock,” at 6.75 years vs. 16 years of original estimate because of progressive degradation of solar output power.