The 23-carat fancy vivid blue diamond, set to headline Christie’s May jewelry auction, was expected to sell for as much as $50 million.
QVC’s Q4 sales up, but no growth for jewelry
U.S. sales were up 6 percent year-over-year to $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter for multimedia retailer QVC, with growth coming from all areas except jewelry.
Englewood, Colo.--U.S. sales were up 6 percent year-over-year to $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter for multimedia retailer QVC, with growth coming from all areas except jewelry.
According to results released Friday by parent company Liberty Interactive Corp., operating income in the U.S. was up 4 percent for the three-month period ended Dec. 31 to $323 million. The average selling price per unit increased 4 percent from $61.83 to $64.56 compared with the prior-year period.
Total revenue for the retailer across all markets was up 2 percent in the fourth quarter to $2.74 billion while total operating income fell 2 percent to $441 million.
“QVC posted strong results in the U.S. and U.K. for the fourth quarter, driven by a return on strategic investments in TV and digital efforts and solid operational execution,” said Liberty President and CEO Greg Maffei.
More than one-third of the e-commerce sales at QVC in 2013 were driven by mobile, comprising approximately $1.2 billion of the $3.1 billion in e-commerce sales last year.
QVC President and CEO Mike George said, "We credit this success to the trust-based relationships we’ve built and continue to cultivate with our existing customers, in addition to the 3.8 million new customers who joined our global shopping communities last year.”
For the full year, the retailer’s U.S. revenue was up 5 percent to $5.84 billion. As was the case during the quarter, growth during the fiscal year came from every category except for jewelry.
Full year operating income in the country was up 4 percent to $901 million.
Total QVC revenue rose 1 percent in 2013 to $8.62 billion, while total operating income across all markets was down 2 percent to $1.25 billion.
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