Liberty Media Corp.
(
LMCA
) reported solid financial results for the second quarter of 2012,
outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimates. Quarterly GAAP net income
was $156 million or $1.27 per share compared with a net income of
$89 million or 27 cents per share. However, quarterly earnings per
share of $1.27 were significantly above the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of 74 cents. Quarterly total revenue of $537 million
remains same year over year but surpassed the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of $521 million.
In the second quarter of 2012, Liberty Media's adjusted OIBDA
(operating income before depreciation and amortization) came in at
$126 million, remaining almost same year over year. Quarterly
operating income was $101 million, up 7.5% year over year. In the
previous quarter, Liberty Media repurchased 1.1 million shares for
a total cash consideration of $95.9 million.
During the first half of 2012, Liberty Media generated $131
million of cash from operations compared with $278 million in the
prior-year period. Free cash flow in the first half of 2012 was
$125 million compared with $272 million in the year-ago period.
At the end of the second quarter of 2012, Liberty Media had
$3,716 million of cash and cash equivalents compared with $3,929
million at the end of 2011. Total debt, at the end of the reported
quarter, was $543 million compared with $1,295 million at the end
of 2011. At the end of the previous quarter, debt-to-capitalization
ratio was 0.09 remains flat at the end of 2011.
Starz LLC Segment
Revenue in the second quarter of 2012 was $403 million,
remaining same year over year. Adjusted OIBDA decreased 8.5% year
over year to $108 million. Operating income was $100 million,
showing an yearly decline of 16.7%. At the end of the reported
quarter, total subscribers base of Starz increased 9% to 20.7
million while its sister TV channel Encore had 34.2 million
subscribers, up 4% year over year.
Major Announcement
Liberty Media has decided to spin-off its premium pay-TV network
Starz LLC into a separate public company. Earlier, the company had
announced its plan of considering a tax-free spin-off of its 46%
stake in the satellite radio broadcaster
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc.
(
SIRI
).
Recommendation
We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Liberty
Media. Currently, it holds a short-term Zacks #2 Rank (Buy) on the
stock.
LIBERTY MDA-LC (LMCA): Free Stock Analysis
Report
SIRIUS XM RADIO (SIRI): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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