Evine Explores Sale of The Home Shopping Network

Things are not looking very good for Evine, which Wednesday announced it was formally reviewing alternatives such as a sale of the network or entering a strategic partnership.

The Minnesota-based channel put out that sad news as it reported its dismal fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, with net sales of $157.6 million, down 12 percent versus the prior year-period.

The company also saw a net loss of $10 million, compared to net income of $6.4 million in the prior year.

The network did list some 2018 successes, such as: the launch of Jennifer Flavin-Stallone’s Serious Skincare; adding new brands and product lines such as Nutritionary, Ron White, Karl Lagerfeld, Nygard, Ready to Wear Beauty, among others; announcing a collaboration with the Jane Fonda; and attracting new brands with the launch of its new Los Angeles office and studio.

Then came the real lede.

“The company today announced that its board of directors initiated a process to review strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value which could include a potential sale or strategic partnership,” Evine said in its press release.

http://www.startribune.com/evine-live-says-it-is-exploring-a-sale-as-it-seeks-path-to-stable-profits/507722792/

It has retained Guggenheim Securities as its financial advisor.

Here’s what CEO Bob Rosenblatt had to say:

We had a strong first half of 2018 that saw both top-line and bottom-line growth. This followed two years of substantial progress, including stabilizing the business, improving the balance sheet and building a strong team and culture. That’s what makes the results over the last two quarters so disappointing.

We are confident in our strategy and committed to our plan, and we are focused on reversing the recent trends, which we believe to be short-term. Maximizing shareholder value remains our top priority.

Due to increased interest in our direct-to-consumer platform, as well as inquiries regarding our expertise in video commerce, product development and third-party logistics, we saw an opportunity to explore strategic options.

Video commerce is more relevant today than when we started on this journey three years ago. We believe that there is strong interest in our brand, in our access to over 87 million homes and in our proficiency in producing video and digital content that tells the story behind brands and products.

As we progress through this process, including reviewing a comprehensive list of ways to enhance shareholder value, we remain focused on growing our business, and are confident, that despite our recent financial trends, we are on the right path.

QVC Shutters French Home Shopping Network

We’re late on this little tidbit, which broke earlier this month, but Qurate Retail Group has pulled the plug on QVC France, one of the company’s international home shopping networks.

Qurate, the parent of domestic QVC and HSN, ceaseed operations of its TV network and digital platforms in France effective March 13.

From the announcement, it looks like 154 people lost their jobs. “Appropriate steps are being taken to provide assistance and resources for the team members’ transition,” according to Qurate’s press release.

“The decision to halt our QVC France operation was carefully considered, as QVC France had under-performed against financial and operational expectations, in large part due to unique in-market structural challenges and market dynamics that evolved in the years following the launch of the operation,” Aidan O’Meara, president of Qurate Retail Group International, said in a statement.

“We determined that these challenges were impacting our ability to develop our business in the manner we expected,” he said. “We want to thank our QVC France team members for their dedication, commitment, and professionalism throughout this period.”

By shuttering the network in France, “QVC will be able to better allocate its annual investment in France into other markets to drive sustainable organic growth,” the press release said. “Further, many corporate functions within QVC are shared across the European markets, and the company believes that this action will allow the teams to better focus on other existing markets.”

In the fourth quarter last year, Qurate recognized charges of about $13 million, of which $9 million was for severance and was excluded from Adjusted OIBDA, and $4 million was for inventory obsolescence and affected Adjusted OIBDA. The company expects to incur additional costs in 2019.

QVC customers in France will still be able to shop with QVC through its QVC UK and QVC Germany commerce platforms, according to Qurate.

Outside of the United States and France, QVC serves about 4.6 million customers in Germany and Austria, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and Ireland. QVC also serves customers through a joint venture in China.

Anuschka Handbags To Exit Evine

A popular Evine handbag vendor, Anuschka, is leaving the Minnesota-based home shopping network.

We have never gotten into their hand-painted leather purses, a little too much for us, but the brand has a lot of fans.

We’d received an inquiry about the future of Anuschka, and then someone pointed out that Evine had discussed the vendor’s future on its website. We rather admire the fact that Evine was honest about it.

In an “Anuschka FAQ,” Evine said the purses would be back on-air April 29 (the day after our birthday, FYI), but the vendor would be leaving the end of spring. In the meantime, the home shopping net suggested buying the purses at evine.com.

If a customer’s favorite Anuschka item is sold out, Evine said it “has a great selection” of Sharif Designs or Madi Claire handbags to check out instead.

QVC’s Team Moseley To Run Travel Agency

That QVC couple Jeff and Erin Moseley have found an additional port of call, so to speak.

“It’s official, we now own a franchise of the largest travel agency in the world, Cruise Planners – TeamMoseleyVacations.com,” Jeff posted on Facebook. “Please join us in the celebration and we look forward to the opportunity to help you plan your next Dream Vacation!!”

The married pair are alums of Jewelry Television, and they eventually found their way to the No. 1 home shopping network, QVC. Jeff is a gemstone expert for the channel, while his wife Erin is the on-air Diamonique rep.

We asked Jeff directly on FB if he and Erin were leaving QVC for their new venture.

“No we love working at Q,” Jeff wrote back. “We just had an opportunity to buy a franchise in travel and with so many people asking us for advice every week and the fact we love to travel ourselves we felt it was a good fit and fun.”

We always thought they were a classy pair and enjoy their QVC visits. They are “following our heart” by buying this franchise, Erin and Jeff said on Facebook.

“Over the years so many of you have told me ‘You should be a travel agent!’ and I’m finally following your advice,” Jeff wrote. “As a Cruise Planners franchise owner I’m here to share my experience as a world traveler, as a destination specialist, as a husband/father of a family who loves to vacay and as your friend. TeamMoseley is here to help you plan your next cruise, all inclusive resort, safari, Alaskan land tour…The possibilities are endless! Let’s get you out there to see the world, make memories and find your happy place!”

And they haven’t wasted any time capitalizing on their gemstone knowledge. Jeff posted this on Facebook Sunday night.

JEWELRY & GEM LOVERS CRUISE

If you want to learn more about where gems come from & want to learn more about how jewelry is designed & manufactured & what’s hot & what’s not while enjoying a glass of champagne at sea then stay tuned!

Team Moseley is currently speaking with some of the biggest designers, manufacturers & site holders for mines & top home shopping television host in the business and will soon be announcing details as far as who is cruising with us for this exclusive event.

If you are interested please email us in advance and we will share details as soon as all designers, manufacturers and site holders have confirmed.

Do you love to cruise? Do you love gems & jewelry?

Jeff.Moseley@cruiseplanners.com

Evine, of course, runs gemstone jewelry and Invicta watch cruises.

This should be interesting.

Is Iman The Next HSN Exit?

Is entrepreneur/super model Iman on her way out, or already gone, from HSN?

All of Iman’s Global Chic merchandise is on clearance on the No. 2 home shopping channel, which has undergone dramatic changes since QVC’s parent, Qurate Retail, acquired it.

The new regime has shuttered “Miracle Mop” and “Huggable Hanger” queen Joy Mangano’s company, Ingenious Designs, and showed Mangano the door. And Iman’s clothing and accessory line was part of Mangano’s Long Island-based company.

Has anyone heard anything?

Evine Preliminary 4Q Revenue Down 12 Percent

We’ve covered corporate earnings for years as a reporter, and can’t ever remember a company releasing preliminary results. But that’s what home shopping network Evine did this week. And it was not good.

The Minnesota-based No. 3 home shopping net this week announced its unaudited results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, reporting net revenue of $155 million compared with $158 million the comparable 13-week period a year ago, a drop of 12 percent to 13 percent.

Evine also expects a net loss of between $10 million to $10.6 million.

“Our quarter fell short of our expectations,” Evine CEO Bob Rosenblatt said in a canned statement. “This reflected the continued impact of the loss of a key brand coupled with the delayed launch of Serious Skincare as previously disclosed along with the overall softness experienced in the retail sector.

“We had a strong first half of 2018, and we believe the softer financial results experienced in the second half of the year are short-term in nature,” he said. “We are focused on reversing these trends. Our goal to maximize shareholder value by leveraging our fully built out direct-to-consumer platform, curating our brand portfolio and increasing awareness to drive customer growth remains the same as we continue on our journey, solidly positioned at the intersection of retail, entertainment and technology.”

Evine said the good news was: it successfully launched Serious Skincare from Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, a former HSN vendor; it announced a collaboration with Jane Fonda, in which Evine will develop an exclusive and comprehensive lifestyle brand with the controversial actress: and it continued to gain traction with its new Los Angeles studio to enhance its programming and attract new brands

The network said that it will release its official, final fourth-quarter results March 27. The conference call will be held 8:30 a.m. ET that morning to review the results and provide an update on the business.

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