IAC /InterActive Corporation Chairman Barry Diller took a gamble this summer by spinning off the HSN shopping channel, the Ticketmaster, LendingTree.com and time-share business Interval Leisure Group. In a conference call yesterday, he announced the consequences: $14.8 million in loss, or 11 cents per share, compared with a profit of $70.5 million or 47 cents per share this time last year, according to Bloomberg (via The New York Post). Yikes.
Mr. Diller spun it this way: "the last quarter when the costs of our spin-offs will distort the operating performance," he said during the call. IAC/InterActive Corporation posted a 10 percent increase in revenue for their third quarter, to $369.3 million from $335.4 million.
But revenue grew only 2 percent to $193.3 million from $189.8 million the previous year. Operating profit for the business, which includes Ask.com, Dictionary.com, iWon, and Citysearch, rose 105 percent to $32.1 million from $15.7 million. That increase was driven in part by the acquisition of Dictionary.com and some sprucing up for at Ask.com.
Mr. Diller added in the earnings release: "our streamlined focus, virtually no debt and large cash balances should provide both long-term growth in our current businesses and allow us to pursue opportunities across the internet."
