Vivint says 2013 banner year for new subscribers

The number of Vivint's net new subscribers in 2013 was 219,034, the most in the company's 15-year history, Vivint President Alex Dunn told investors this week at the J.P. Morgan Global High Yield and Leveraged Finance Conference. APX Group Holdings, of which Provo, Utah-based home automation/home security company Vivint is a subsidiary, presented at the conference on Feb. 25.

According to information on the presentation provided by the company, Dunn presented Vivint to investors as a key player in a “large, growing and recession-resistant industry” with a “unique and differentiated sales model,” according to the company.

Vivint estimated its market share in 2013 was on par with Monitronics'—with each having a 3 percent share. Only three companies had a greater share than those two: ADT, with 21 percent; Tyco with 6 percent; and Stanley, with 5 percent, according to Vivint's estimates.

Dunn said that average RMR per Vivint new subscriber was $58.35, compared to average revenue per subscriber of $53.05.

Direct sales accounted for about 77 percent of new subscribers for the door-knocking company but Vivint's growing inside sales program was responsible for the other 23 percent, the company said.

Dunn also said Vivint's RMR was $42.2 million and that revenues were up about 10 percent and that attrition was 12.8 percent.

In an APX Group Holdings conference call in November, Dunn reported similar Q3 results and the numbers he discussed Tuesday also trended positive.

The publicly traded Blackstone Group bought Vivint in 2012 in a deal worth more than $2 billion.

In other news, Vivint today named Nike veteran Jeff Lyman as its chief marketing officer. “As CMO, he will lead marketing and communication initiatives that elevate Vivint's brand awareness and drive adoption of its security, home automation, and energy management services,” the company said.

Before his promotion to CMO, Lyman was Vivint's vice president of consumer experience and previous to that had spent about 10 years at Nike.

I'll be talking more to Jeff next week. Stay posted.