Liberty Media profit up at Starz, QVC
(Adds executive comments, byline)
NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - Liberty Media, controlled by cable industry veteran John Malone, reported a rise in profit on Tuesday for its two key units on subscriber growth at movie network Starz and higher sales at shopping channel QVC.
The company did not provide earnings per share figures, but posted separate operating results for its two tracking stocks
-- Liberty Interactive Group (LINTA.O), home to QVC, and -- Liberty Interactive Group (LINTA.O), home to QVC, and Liberty Capital Group (LCAPA.O), which includes Starz.
Liberty Interactive shares fell nearly 7 percent due to disappointing results for QVC's overseas markets.
"Liberty Interactive posted surprisingly weak results for QVC as poor international results combined with modest U.S. performance," Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen wrote in a note to clients.
In the first quarter, QVC revenue rose 8 percent to $1.68 billion, while operating cash flow gained 5 percent to $374 million. Operating income increased to $243 million from $212 million a year ago.
That growth was offset by a 7 percent decline in operating cash flow for QVC's international business, excluding a favorable exchange rate.
QVC said business overseas was hurt by lower prices in the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as regulatory changes in Japan for marketing certain key products.
"While we were disappointed with QVC's international performance, domestic businesses continued to rebound," Liberty Media Chief Executive Greg Maffei said on a call with analysts.
Starz revenue rose 2 percent to $265 million and operating cash flow jumped 78 percent to $73 million. Operating income rose to $60 million from $33 million, helped by lower programming costs.
NEW $1 BLN BUYBACK
Liberty Media is in the midst of converting a portfolio of minority holdings in media and communications companies into a better-defined set of operating businesses. The company said its board approved an additional buyback of up to $1 billion in Liberty Capital shares on May 3.
The company struck a deal last year to swap its 16.3 percent stake in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. NWSa.N for News Corp.'s controlling 38.5 percent stake in top U.S. satellite TV operator DirecTV Group Inc.DTV.N, along with other assets and cash.
Maffei said the deal awaits approval from U.S. regulators, with a nod by the Federal Communications Commission likely to take the most time, and could close by September.
Malone said the DirecTV deal should help Liberty capitalize on growth of high-definition video.
"That is kind of the hot spot right now in the video business and the combination of superior firepower and ubiquity would seem to give DirecTV a tactical advantage over the next couple of years," he said during the call.
While satellite providers cannot offer the same bundle of phone, Internet and TV services that have fueled cable operator growth, they may have additional advantages in markets for mobile video and other applications, he said.
Liberty Interactive Class A shares fell 6.8 percent to $23.71, while Liberty Capital Class A shares declined 1.7 percent to $116.66, both on Nasdaq.
((Reporting by Michele Gershberg, editing by Andre Grenon; Reuters Messaging: michele.gershberg.reuters.com@reuters.net; E-mail: michele.gershberg@reuters.com +1-646-223-6185)) Keywords: LIBERTYMEDIA RESULTS/
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