• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, May 23, 2012

Internet radio service Pandora Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue of $80.8 million, up 58% from a year ago, while posting a widening loss of 12 cents per share. Excluding a one-time charge, it would have had a loss of 9 cents a share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations of a loss of 17 cents a share on revenue of $74.4 million.

Advertising sales accounting for the bulk of Pandora’s revenue, at $70.6 million, up 62%, while subscriptions and other income sources made up the remaining $10.2 million.

Driving higher ad sales was growing usage. Total listener hours grew 92% to approximately 3.09 billion in the quarter, nearly doubling from 1.6 billion in the year-earlier period. The company said it now has nearly a 6% share of total U.S. radio listening and a 71.7% share of top 20 U.S. Internet radio services.

Looking ahead, Pandora projects a net loss per share of 3 cents to 5 cents per share on revenue between $99 million and $100 million. For the full year, it expects a loss of 7 cents to 11 cents on revenue of $420 million to $427 million.