Liberty Interactive Corp.'s (LINTA, LINTB) third-quarter
operating profit rose 3.1% on revenue growth at its QVC
home-shopping network, while Liberty Media Corp.'s (LMCA, LMCB)
operating earnings surged.
Liberty Interactive in 2011 completed a split-off of assets,
including the Starz cable channel, that became known as Liberty
Media Corp. The plan sharpened focus on the growing QVC, as well as
a handful of its e-commerce businesses. In October, the company
said it plans to reorganize its tracking stocks, creating new
holdings called QVC Group and Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings.
Liberty Media, meanwhile, in January spun off Starz in a move
aimed at freeing up cash to pursue its takeover of Sirius XM Radio
Inc. (SIRI). Liberty gave Sirius a lifeline in early 2009 with
several hundred million dollars in loans; in exchange, Liberty got
preferred shares equivalent to a 40% stake in the company.
For the quarter, Liberty Interactive reported an operating
profit of $199 million, up from $193 million a year earlier.
Revenue grew 2.2% to $2.25 billion, while analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters had expected $2.25 billion.
Revenue from QVC--its largest business--grew 1.5% to $1.95
billion, and was up 4% on a constant-currency basis. QVC's U.S.
revenue grew 5% to $1.3 billion.
"QVC again posted solid results in the U.S., while the
international markets proved more challenging and were negatively
impacted by currency fluctuations in Japan and the U.K.," Liberty
Chief Executive Greg Maffei said.
Liberty Interactive's e-commerce business posted at 7.2%
increase in revenue to $298 million.
Operating expenses at Liberty Interactive grew 14% to $2.3
billion.
Separately, Liberty Media reported its operating profit was $248
million, compared with $10 million a year earlier. Revenue surged
to $1.11 billion, fueled by $832 million in subscriber revenue,
while the company posted no subscriber revenue in the year-ago
period.
Analysts had expected revenue of $1.13 billion.
Liberty Media also said it expected revenue of more than $4
billion for 2014, compared with expectations of $4.57 billion from
analysts recently polled by Thomson Reuters.
Series A shares of Liberty Interactive and Liberty Media shares
were inactive premarket at $27.14 and $154.03, respectively.
Write to Nathalie Tadena at nathalie.tadena@wsj.com
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