QVC takes on new chief merchant as parent company launches turnaround plan

Englewood, Colo. – Qurate Retail Group has hired a new chief merchandising officer for QVC U.S. as part of its three-year plan to re-establish revenue stability, margin expansion and incremental free cash flow generation.

The corporation, whose businesses also include HSN U.S., Cornerstone Group, Zulily and QVC International, has hired a president for its streaming business as well.

It announced both executive additions this morning with the release of its second quarter results but did not reveal their identifies. That announcement will be coming soon, according to David Rawlinson, president and CEO of Qurate Retail.

Home category sales in the QxH division (QVC U.S. and HSN) fell 12% compared to a 3% drop in the year-ago quarter. Home accounted for 39% of QxH total sales, flat to last year’s Q2.

Q2 results by U.S. business:

QxH: Total revenues down 12% to $1.989 billion. Operating income up 22% to $361 million.
Cornerstone: Total revenues up 4% to $341 million. Operating income down 18% to $36 million.
Zulily: Total revenues down 45% to $220 million. Operating loss of $51 million compared to an operating loss of $15 million in the year-ago quarter.

“Our second quarter results reflected lower demand driven by similar factors impacting all of retail including inflation, the war in Ukraine and rising interest rates, as well as supply chain challenges and downstream impacts from last December’s fire at our Rocky Mount, N.C. fulfillment center that affected our merchandise availability and operational efficiency,” said Rawlinson.

Total company revenues declined 16% to $2.95 billion. Adjusted net income was down 8.6% to $203 million.