Liberty Interactive Misses in 4Q
Liberty Interactive Corp. (LINTA) reported weak financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimates. Quarterly net income was $174 million or 32 cents per share compared with $285 million or 48 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Fourth-quarter 2012 earnings per share of 32 cents were well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents.
Quarterly total revenue of $3,143 million reflected a yearly improvement of 2% and was exactly in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.Liberty Interactive currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Fourth-quarter 2012 gross margin was 36% compared with 35.9% in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly total operating income came in at $382 million as opposed to $409 million in the year-ago quarter. In the reported quarter, consolidated adjusted OIBDA came in at $626 million compared with $619 million in the year-ago quarter. In the previous quarter, Liberty Interactive repurchased approximately 9 million Class A shares for a total consideration of $177 million.
In 2012, Liberty Interactive generated $1,432 million of cash compared with $900 million in 2011. Free cash flow in 2012 was $1,039 million compared with $588 million in 2011. At the end of 2012, Liberty Interactive had total consolidated cash and marketable securities of $4,479 million compared with $2,015 million at the end of 2011. Liberty Interactive exited 2012 with $7,884 million of outstanding debt compared with $6,039 million at the end of 2011. Debt-to-capitalization ratio was 0.45 at the end of 2012 compared with 0.42 at the end of 2011.
QVC Segment
Quarterly total revenue of QVC segment was $2,692 million, up 2% year over year. Consolidated adjusted OIBDA was $603 million, up 4% year over year. Consolidated operating income was $449 million, up 13% year over year. QVC U.S. quarterly revenue inched up 2% year over year to $1,828 million. Gross margin was 34.7% compared with 34.6% in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted OIBDA was $429 million, up 7% year over year. Operating income was $312 million, up 23% year over year. QVC International quarterly revenue inched up 1% year over year to $864 million. Gross margin was 37.1% compared with 37.4% in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted OIBDA was $174 million, down 2% year over year. Operating income was $137 million, down 4% year over year.
According to a report of Internet Retailer, after Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), QVC was the second-largest e-commerce retailer of the U.S. in 2012. QVC has become the market leader in the $8 billion TV home-shopping business commanding an estimated 69% market share, far ahead of its nearest rivals, HSN Inc. (HSNI) and ValueVision Media Inc. (VVTV).
eCommerce Segment
Quarterly revenue of eCommerce Business segment was $451 million, up 5% year over year. Quarterly adjusted OIBDA was $35 million, down 29% year over year. Operating loss was $39 million, in the quarter, in contrast to an operating income of $30 million in the prior-year quarter.
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