Evine To Post Third-Quarter Earnings Nov. 22

Evine will report its third-quarter results on Nov. 22, before the market opens, the company said on Wednesday.

CEO Bob Rosenblatt and Chief Financial Offcier Tim Peterman will hold a conference call at 8:30 a.m. to review the results.

Those interested in participating in the conference call should dial 1-877-407-9039 at least five minutes prior to the call.

There will be a simultaneous audio webcast available at the following link: http://viavid.incommconferencing.com (enter Conference Number 13649173).

A replay of the conference call will also be hosted on the company’s website for a limited time.

Evine Live’s Third-Quarter Sales Up 3 Percent, To $162.3 Million

Evive Live’s net sales were up 3 percent, to $162.3 million, a 3 percent increase in the third quarter versus last year, the home shopping network reported Tuesday.

That compared to QVC’s 4 percent revenue increase, to $1.4 billion, and HSN’s net sales rising 2 percent, to $590.6 million.

But it wasn’t a good quarter for the No. 3 home shopping network. Evine Live saw a $5.2 million net loss in the quarter, which sent its shares into a sell-off. The company also said that it had launched a spin-off channel, Evine Live Too, that offers a three-hour-delayed feed of its core network.

http://www.startribune.com/evine-live-shares-tumble-18-after-loss-widens/353168741/

Evine Live’s online net sales as a percentage of total net sales increased 250 basis points to 46 percent.

Mobile remains the fastest-growing platform with net sales of $31.2 million, a 34 percent increase year-over-year.

The active customer count during the quarter increased 3 percent year-over-year, while reactivated customer count increased 4 percent.

Average purchase frequency increased to 4.1 units per customer, a 4 percent increase, while adjusted EBITDA was $200,000.

“We are pleased with our third-quarter results as the sales trends we experienced last quarter have continued,” Evine Live CEO Mark Bozek said in a canned statement. “We enter the holiday season with optimism in our merchandise assortment and growth strategies.”

Never one for brevity, here’s the rest of what Bozek had to say.

“Through a deliberate merchandising strategy launched just over a year ago, we’ve developed a more diversified product assortment of proprietary offerings with margins that are more in line with industry averages.”

“We believe improvements in our customer counts and average-purchase frequency are proof that our customers are responding positively to ‘more in our store.’ In addition, we believe our efforts to increase brand awareness and broaden our distribution footprint are important to driving incremental business in the fourth quarter and beyond.”

“With the changes we initiated a year ago to position the company for sustainable growth, we are seeing real continued momentum and, despite operating in a highly competitive retail environment, we remain confident that we’ve laid a solid foundation for top line growth and profitability in the fourth quarter.”

Home and consumer electronics was the fastest-growing category at 18 percent while all other categories, with the exception of jewelry, delivered growth of 3 percent to four percent.

The return rate  for the quarter was 18.9 percent, down 230 basis points year-over-year, a five-year low.

Gross profit decreased 5.3 percent to 5.3 percent to $55.9 million. gross profit as a percentage of sales decreased 310 basis points to 34.5 percent, due in part to reduced margins in jewelry and margins.

 

 

QVC Sees 4 Percent Gain, To $1.4 Billion, In Third-Quarter Sales

Following on the heels of HSN’s report, QVC announced Wednesday that its revenue increased 4 percent to $1.4 billion in the third quarter versus last year.

Earlier in the day, HSN said that its net sales in the quarter rose 2 percent, to $590.6 million, which was below Wall Street’s projections.

At the No. 1 domestic home shopping network, part of Liberty Interactive Corp., units sold rose 5 percent; average selling price per unit increased 1 percent to $58.70; and returns as a percentage of gross product revenue increased 21 basis points.

QVC U.S. experienced growth in the apparel, accessories, home and beauty categories, which was partially offset by a decline primarily in jewelry.

Ecommerce revenue increased 15 percent to $678 million and was up 48 percent from 43 percent of total QVC revenue.

Adjusted OIBDA increased 1 percent to $333 million and adjusted OIBDA margin decreased 55 basis points to 23.5 percent. These results were primarily due to higher freight and inventory obsolescence expense, which were partially offset by higher product margins and lower bad debt expenses.

“QVC generated strong results across the board with local currency growth in all consolidated markets for the second quarter in a row,” Liberty Interactive President and CEO Greg Maffei.

“The expansion in mobile orders continues at a rapid pace, comprising 53 percent of consolidated ecommerce orders,” he said. “We completed the acquisition of Zulily and have already begun introducing its customers to QVC.”

The entire QVC group, which includes Liberty Interactive’s many international home shopping networks, saw its consolidated revenue drop 1 percent, to $2 billion.

“U.S. dollar denominated results were negatively impacted by exchange rate fluctuations in the third quarter,” QVC said in its press release.

The Dollar strengthened against the Euro, Japanese yen and British pound sterling 16 percent, 15 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

On a constant currency basis, consolidated revenue increased 4 percent and adjusted OIBDA increased 1 percent compared to a 1 percent and 2 percent decline in dollars, respectively.

Excluding the costs related to launch QVC France, consolidated adjusted OIBDA increased 3 percent on a constant-currency basis in the quarter.

“We delivered strong constant currency revenue gains across markets as we continued to execute our strategies to extend our leading global video and eCommerce position,” QVC President and CEO Mike George said.

“We expanded our commerce platform reach with additional TV carriage and increased digital penetration, and mobile orders now represent over 50% of all eCommerce orders,” he said.

“We enhanced our merchandise differentiation with key brand launches and leverage of our global vendor network. Our joint venture in China generated outstanding results, and on October 1st we welcomed Zulily to the QVC Group, extending our reach to millennial customers.”

HSN Has Tough Third Quarter, With Sales Up 2 Percent To $590.6 Million

It was not happy time in St. Petersburg today when HSN released its third-quarter results.

The No. 2 home shopping network’s net sales rose only 2 percent, to $590.6 million, led by growth in electronics and culinary, “offset by home and jewelry,” the company said in a press release Wednesday.

Operating income was flat, at $56.2 million. Not good.

Digital sales increased 7 percent with penetration increasing 170 basis points to 40.5 percent. The return rate improved 80 basis points to 16.8 percent primarily due to changes in product mix. Units shipped increased 2 percent and average price point increased 1 percent.

Gross profit increased 1 percent to $204.5 million. Gross profit margin rate decreased 50 basis points to 34.6 percent primarily due to an increase in shipping promotions and changes in product mix. Operating expenses (excluding non-cash charges) increased 1 percent to $137.4 million.

HSN Inc. includes HSN, the home shopping channel that we just gave you the results for, and Cornerstone, a catalog company.

“We are not pleased with our third quarter results, which do not reflect the deliberate and strategic changes we have made over the past three years to strengthen our brands, create efficiencies and develop our talent to position ourselves for long-term growth,” HSN CEO Mindy Grossman said in a canned statement.

“While we believe that our opportunity to drive growth remains strong, certain product categories at HSN and specific brands within our Cornerstone portfolio weighed on our results in the quarter,” she said. “We have taken decisive actions to course correct and move the business forward while managing profitability.”

“Specifically, at HSN we have made changes in our merchandising organization to reignite our strategy of offering customers new and differentiated product in all categories,” Grossman said.

HSN INc.’s net sales, which include HSN and Cornerstone, increased 3 percent over the prior year to $864.9 million.

Cornerstone’s net sales increased 6 percent to $274.3 million, including 9 percent growth in digital sales.

“At Cornerstone, we are maximizing growth opportunities while rationalizing circulation and inventory to drive the business,” she said. “We continue to have strong digital performance at HSNi with digital sales growth of 8 percent and penetration of nearly 50 percent with mobile up 18 percent, now representing 37 percent of our total digital business.

“We remain confident that our fundamental strengths of customer focus and engagement, increasingly sophisticated digital platforms, and unique, immersive retail experiences and products position us well for long-term success in the evolving commerce landscape,” Grossman said.

ShopHQ Sees 7 Percent Sales Gain In Third Quarter

In addition to unveiling its name change Tuesday, ShopHQ also reported its third-quarter earnings, posting a 7 percent increase in net sales, to $157.1 million.

The year-over-year revenue gain was due to strong sales in the fashion, accessories, beauty, health and fitness categories, the network — soon to be called Ervine Live — said.

Mark Bozek

Adjusted net income rose to $1.6 million, or three cents a share, compared with an adjusted net loss of $900,000 a year ago.

“I am pleased with our third-quarter results,” ShopHQ CEO Mark Bozek said in a canned statement. “We achieved improvements in operating metrics across the P&L, and we are excited for the holiday season. I am also looking forward to accelerating our transition to a true digital commerce company and implementing our new, unified strategy, which should expand our reach and further drive long-term growth.”

Chief Financial Officer William McGrath also chimed in.

“We ended the quarter with $26 million in cash and restricted cash,” he said. “During the quarter, the company had borrowings under our PNC credit facility of around $5 million to fund capital expenditures incurred for our Bowling Green distribution center expansion.”

QVC Posts 5 Percent Revenue Gain In Third Quarter

QVC posted a 5 percent revenue increase in the third quarter, to $1.4 billion, the network’s parent reported Tuesday.

The No. 1 home shopping network attributed its gains primarily due to strength in the home, apparel and accessories categories, partially offset by weakness in electronics.

“We delivered our strongest quarterly performance of 2014 in the third quarter,” QVC President and CEO Mike George said in a canned statement. “We drove good growth and generated strong operating leverage, particularly in the U.S., Germany, the UK and Italy. We continue to benefit from our customer-centric focus, which has resulted in outstanding customer loyalty in all our markets, as well as strong e-commerce penetration and mobile growth.”

Earlier in the day, HSN reported a 7 percent increase in its net sales, to $578.3 million.

At QVC, the average selling price per unit (“ASP”) increased 1 percent to $58.19 from $57.88 and units sold increased 4 percent.

Returns as a percentage of gross product revenue improved 59 basis points. E-commerce revenue increased 11 percent to $592 million and grew to 43 percent from 41 percent as a percentage of total U.S. revenue.

Adjusted OIBDA increased 8 percent to $329 million and adjusted OIBDA margin increased 72 basis points.

Adjusted OIBDA margin increased primarily due to improved product margins, lower state franchise tax expense associated with the timing of credits and audit settlements and higher proprietary credit card income due in part to unfavorable regulatory bank reserve adjustments experienced in the prior year, as well as the positive impact of renegotiated contract terms. These gains were partially offset by higher freight costs.

QVC’s consolidated revenue, which includes its international networks, had consolidated revenue of $2 billion, up 4 percent.

HSN To Report Third-Quarter Results Nov. 4

HSN Inc. will release its third-quarter results Nov. 4 at 8 a.m., before the market opens, the home shopping network said Tuesday.

CEO Mindy Grossman and Chief Operating Officer Judy Schmeling will hold a conference call at 9 a.m. to review these results.

Those interested in participating in the conference call should dial 877-307-0246 or 224-357-2394 at least five minutes prior to the call.

There will also be a simultaneous audio webcast available via the company’s website at http://www.hsni.com.

A replay of the call can be accessed until Nov. 18 y dialing 855-859-2056 or 404-537-3406, plus the pass code 17192651 and will also be hosted on the company’s website for a limited time.

ShopHQ Posts 7 Percent Sales Increase, To $147 Million, In Third Quarter

Yowser! ShopHQ saw its sales jump 7 percent in the fiscal third quarter, although it still is bleeding red ink — albeit less than last year.

The No. 3 home shopping network Wednesday reported net sales of $147 million versus the year-ago quarter, “driven primarily by strong sales results in the fashion & accessories and home & consumer electronics categories,” according to a press release.

ShopHQ, formerly ShopNBC, outpaced its bigger rivals in the third quarter. QVC had a 5 percent increase in sales, to $1.3 billion, while HSN was flat at $538.6 million.

Adjusted EBITDA improved to $4 million versus $1 million in the same quarter last year, reflecting higher sales and improved gross profit margin.

But the company reported a net loss of $1 million, compared with a net loss of $4 million a year ago.

Year to date, ShopHQ’s reported a net sales increase of 9 percent to $447 million, adjusted EBITDA of $13 million compared to an approximate breakeven adjusted EBITDA position last year, and a net loss of $1 million compared to a net loss of $16 million for the same period last year.

Total customers purchasing over the last 12 months rose 13 percent to 1.25 million.

“The growth in the customer base reflects continued diversification of the sompany’s merchandise at lower price points as well as a product mix shift from the jewelry & Watches category to the fashion & accessories and home & consumer electronics categories,” the press release said. “Improvements in customer satisfaction and channel positioning also contributed to customer growth. In addition, the size of the total customer base who purchased during the three months of Q3’13 increased 20 percent versus last year’s same period.”

Net shipped units rose 31 percent to 1.7 million in the third quarter over the same quarter last year, reflecting a broader merchandise mix and a 20 percent decline in the average price point.

Onternet sales penetration increased to 47 percent. Mobile net sales grew 45 percent, increasing to 22 percent of Internet sales compared to 18 percent a year ago.

“We are pleased with our operating performance in the third quarter, which marked our sixth consecutive quarter of sales growth and positive Adjusted EBITDA,” ShopHQ CEO Keith Stewart said in a statement. “We continued to improve our product offerings and to diversify our product mix. We achieved double-digit customer growth. Our rebranding to ShopHQ, your shopping headquarters, is largely complete, and we believe we are well positioned for the holiday season.”

Stewart, by the way, is one of the executives that a group of dissident shareholders wants canned.

ShopHQ To Report Third-Quarter Results Nov. 20

Since a dissident shareholder group is calling for Keith Stewart’s head, it should be interesting when ShopHQ releases its third-quarter earning Nov. 20.

ShopHQ, i.e. ValueVision Media, will announce its fiscal third-quarter results after the market closes.

Management will host a conference call/webcast to review the results at 4:30 p.m. the same day.

Participating in the call will be CEO Stewart, President Bob Ayd, CFO Bill McGrath, and COO Carol Steinberg.

The call and webcast are open to the general public.

WEBCAST/WEB REPLAY: http://www.media-server.com/m/p/e7s2e6pp

TELEPHONE: 866-700-0133; Passcode: 18107976

HSN Lays Big Egg With Flat Third-Quarter Sales

HSN had a pretty dour third quarter, with its sales virtually flat at $538.6 million compared to $537.4 million in the the prior year. No wonder the company is laying off employees at its headquarters in St. Pete.

That compares to 5 percent sales growth, to $1.3 billion, that QVC reported earlier this week for the third quarter.

Mindy Grossman

We didn’t get a chance to listen to HSN’s third-quarter call with analysts Wednesday, but here is a link to the transcript from Seeking Alpha.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1812002-hsn-management-discusses-q3-2013-results-earnings-call-transcript

HSN COO Judy Schmeling had this to say.

“We had sales growth in home design, household and beauty,” she told analysts. “Sales were down in jewelry, apparel and accessories and culinary. As we stated on the last earnings call, we are in a process of repositioning our jewelry and culinary businesses. Apparel, in general, continues to be challenged similar to what is occurring in the broader retail market.”

Gross profit at the No. 2 home shopping network dipped 3 percent to $186.2 million. Gross margin decreased 110 basis points to 34.6 percent “primarily due to the product mix shift and increased promotional activity,” the company said in a press release.

Operating expenses (excluding non-cash charges) decreased 4 percent to $129.1 million primarily due to the timing of certain marketing programs and bad debt expenses.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 1 percent to $57.1 million compared to $56.8 million in the prior year primarily due to the decrease in operating expenses, partially offset by the decline in gross profit. Operating income increased 1 percent to $47.6 million compared to $47 million in the prior year.

Digital sales increased 7 percent, with penetration increasing 220 basis points to 36.8 percent, the company reported.

Net sales at HSN Inc., which includes the home shopping network and the Cornerstone unit, rose 3 percent over the prior-year period to $798.9 million. Cornerstone’s net sales increased 8 percent to $260.3 million, including 10 percent growth in digital sales.

“HSNi has built a powerful and diverse portfolio of brands and products enabling us to capitalize on consumer trends, manage marketplace dynamics and position the company for long-term success,” HSN CEO Mindy Grossman said in a canned statement.

“During the third quarter, this strategy resulted in record customer levels at HSNi, an increase in digital penetration of 230 basis points—including strong growth in mobile, which now represents 12% of our total business—and Adjusted EPS growth of 19%.”