Liberty Interactive Inc.
(
LINTA
) reported solid financial results for the third quarter of 2012,
outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimates. Quarterly net income was
$49 million or 20 cents per share compared with $25 million or 10
cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Third-quarter 2012
earnings per share of 20 cents surpassed the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of 18 cents. Quarterly total revenue of $2,196 million
reflected a yearly improvement of 3%, surpassing the Zacks
Consensus Estimate of $2,175 million.
Third-quarter 2012 gross margin was 35.9% compared with 36.1%
in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly total operating income came
in at $193 million as opposed to $225 million in the year-ago
quarter. In the reported quarter, consolidated adjusted OIBDA
came in at $397 million compared with $378 million in the
year-ago quarter. In the previous quarter, Liberty Interactive
repurchased approximately 3 million Class A shares for a total
consideration of $55.9 million.
In the first nine months of 2012, Liberty Interactive
generated $944 million of cash compared with $516 million in the
year-ago period. Free cash flow in the first nine months of 2012
was $707 million compared with $324 million in the prior-year
period.
At the end of the third quarter of 2012, Liberty Interactive
had total consolidated cash and marketable securities of $3,435
million compared with $2,015 million at the end of 2011. Liberty
Interactive exited the third quarter of 2012 with $7,357 million
of outstanding debt compared with $6,039 million at the end of
2011. Debt-to-capitalization ratio was 0.49 at the reported
quarter end compared with 0.42 at the end of 2011.
QVC Segment
Quarterly total revenue of
QVC segment
was $1,918 million, up 1.7% year over year. Consolidated adjusted
OIBDA was $397 million, up 7% year over year. Consolidated
operating income was $260 million, up 11.1% year over year.
QVC U.S.
quarterly revenue inched up 3.4% year over year to $1,237
million. Gross margin was 36.1% compared with 35.7% in the
year-ago quarter. Adjusted OIBDA was $278 million, up 7.3% year
over year. Operating income was $173 million, up 8.8% year over
year.
QVC International
quarterly revenue dropped 1.3% year over year to $681 million.
Gross margin was 37.4% compared with 36.7% in the year-ago
quarter. Adjusted OIBDA was $119 million, up 4.4% year over year.
Operating income was $87 million, up 16% year over year.
eCommerce Segment
Quarterly revenue of eCommerce Business segment was $278
million, up 13% year over year. Quarterly adjusted OIBDA was $4
million, down 56% year over year. Operating loss was $56 million,
in the quarter, much wider than an operating loss of $2 million
in the prior-year quarter.
Recommendation
Liberty Interactive's QVC division has become the undisputed
market leader in the $8 billion TV home-shopping business.
Currently, QVC commands an estimated 69% market share, far ahead
of its nearest rivals,
HSN Inc.
(
HSNI
) and
ValueVision Media Inc.
(
VVTV
). We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Liberty
Interactive. Currently, the stock holds a short-term Zacks #3
Rank (Hold).
HSN INC (HSNI): Free Stock Analysis Report
LIBERTY M INT-A (LINTA): Free Stock Analysis
Report
VALUEVISION CLA (VVTV): Free Stock Analysis
Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research