Liberty Interactive Corp. said Thursday that its operating income rose 3 percent as sales from its home shopping network QVC increased.
Liberty Interactive, which is controlled by media magnate John Malone, owns or is invested in several other companies, including a 34 percent stake in shopping site and TV channel HSN Inc. The company split off from Liberty Media Corp., which owns the Starz cable network and the Atlanta Braves baseball team, along with stakes in other companies, in September.
The Englewood, Colo., company also said Thursday that it was splitting the company's stock into two "tracking stocks" to give its investors more choice. One of the stocks will follow QVC, Liberty's stake in HSN and other websites. The other stock will track the company's Liberty Ventures business, which invests in Time Warner and Time Warner Cable, travel sites Expedia and TripAdvisor and several other companies.
Liberty Interactive said that operating income in the October-December period was $408 million from $396 million in the same period in 2010.
Revenue grew 7 percent to $3.08 billion from $2.89 billion. Analysts expected $3.03 billion.
QVC's U.S. revenue increased 4 percent to $1.8 billion. International revenue grew 7 percent to $857 million.
Shares of the company's Series A stock rose 57 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $18.54. The company's Series B stock has more votes per share, is thinly traded and held by fewer holders.
