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RAPAPORT... Liberty Interactive Corporation, the parent company of QVC, reported that revenue increased 4 percent year on year to $2.5 billion in the second quarter that ended on June 30. Group profit fell 5 percent to $255 million. QVC's revenue improved 3 percent to $2 billion; however, the division's operating income decreased by 2 percent. QVC.com's revenue, as a percent of total U.S. sales, jumped 157 basis points to 43 percent. The company added that QVC U.S. mobile penetration was 37 percent of QVC.com orders. QVC U.S.'s sales rose for all product categories except for electronics and jewelry. The average selling price per unit increased 1 percent to $57.05 and the number of units sold increased 3 percent. QVC's online channel drove revenue up 7 percent to $588 million. Sales of jewelry items also declined in Japan and Germany but they rose in the U.K. QVC's president and CEO, Mike George, said, "Our second quarter performance reflects the strategic actions we are taking to extend our highly differentiated retail model across geographies and commerce platforms. We generated solid results, with strong gains in Europe and China and improved growth in the U.S., partially offset by macro challenges in Japan. As we re-imagine the worlds of shopping, entertainment and social as one, we continue to deliver a high-quality value proposition to our customers, as evidenced by our strong ecommerce and mobile penetration and excellent customer retention." QVC noted strong revenue increases for Europe, with exceptional results in the U.K. and the group's venture in China posted healthy growth. Greg Maffei, Liberty's president and CEO, announced the pending combination of FTD and Provide Commerce for which the company will own 35 percent of FTD for approximately $430 million. "The complementary strengths of these businesses will offer customers an outstanding gifting experience worldwide. This transaction, along with other factors, has led us to re-evaluate the optimal structure of Liberty's digital commerce assets. However, we intend to continue with our plan to create the QVC Group tracking stock, which will be comprised of our interests in QVC and HSN," Maffei said. From May 1 through July 31, Liberty repurchased approximately 9.5 million Series A Liberty Interactive Group shares at an average cost per share of $28.95 for total cash consideration of $274 million. Since the creation of the Liberty Interactive stock in May 2006, Liberty has repurchased approximately 247.3 million shares at an average cost per share of $20.63 for aggregate cash consideration of $5.1 billion, representing approximately 35.3 percent of the shares outstanding. The total remaining repurchase authorization for Liberty Interactive Group stock is approximately $599 million. In addition, in connection with the approval of the spin-off of Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings Inc., Liberty's board of directors authorized the repurchase of an additional $350 million worth of shares, subject to the completion of that spin-off.
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