DENVER—Liberty Media Corp. said Thursday it expects to begin offering a third tracking stock next week that will include a newly acquired 41 percent interest in DirecTV Group Inc.
Chief Executive Officer Greg Maffei told analysts during a conference call that he expects the new Liberty Entertainment tracking stock to begin trading Tuesday morning on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker “LMDI.”
“There were certainly doubters at the time we did that deal, people who thought that we were getting the lesser end of the bargain, being forced into this trade,” he said. “We believed and do believe that DTV’s management was on track. We believe in the strength of the satellite as a video form.”
The diversified media holding company, which is controlled by cable entrepreneur John Malone, completed a $12 billion swap Wednesday that exchanged its stake in News Corp. for the interest in El Segundo, Calif.-based DirecTV, the nation’s leading satellite TV service company.
Maffei also said the company is looking for new e-commerce businesses to acquire valued anywhere from $50 million to $5 billion. “If you start looking at how many attractive, independent, stand-alone e-commerce businesses at reasonable valuation there are that fit that criteria, the field narrows quickly,” he said.
Maffei made the comments as Liberty Media released partial financial results for the fourth quarter and 2007.
Liberty Capital Group, which holds a range of other entertainment businesses, reported revenue of $265 million in the fourth quarter, up from $257 million in the year-ago quarter as revenue rose for premium cable channel operator Starz Entertainment Group. Operating cash flow dipped to $48 million from $50 million.
Subscribers to the Starz and Encore cable channels rose to 47 million from 42.8 million in the year-ago quarter.
For the year, Liberty Capital’s revenue rose to $1.07 billion up from $1.03 billion in 2006.
Liberty Interactive Group had fourth-quarter revenue of $2.33 billion, up from $2.24 billion in the year-ago period despite slower growth at cable shopping network QVC. Operating cash flow fell to $531 million from $557 million.
Liberty Interactive’s operating results were more challenging because of a difficult retail environment, Maffei said.
For the year, the unit’s revenue totaled $7.4 billion up from $7.1 billion in 2006.
Janco Parters analyst April Horace said the Starz results were in line with her expectations but it was apparent that QVC’s growth was affected by the slowing U.S. economy.
“The real positive takeaway is DirecTV had stellar fourth-quarter results,” she said.
Based in suburban Englewood, Liberty Media created tracking stocks to show the performance of certain assets, part of an effort to unwind the complexity of its holdings.
In addition to DirecTV, Liberty Entertainment includes interests in premium cable channel company Starz Entertainment Group, rural satellite broadband company WildBlue Communications Inc. and Fun Technologies Inc., an online provider of interactive sports games and sports information.
Liberty Interactive shares fell 37 cents to $14.71, and Liberty Capital’s stock fell $1.46 to $117.24 a share Thursday.
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