Finance & Capital Management

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN Inc. (HSNi) missed Wall Street expectations for its net income in the second quarter of fiscal 2014. HSN reported net income of $40.9 million, a 5% drop from $43.3 million a year earlier.

Net sales rose 5% to $855.2 million, from $812.6 million. Mobile and digital sales growth helped drive the overall improvement in net sales. Promotions in the company’s Cornerstore business negatively impacted net income.

Seattle – Online specialty retailer Zulily beat Wall Street expectations by almost doubling its net earnings and sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to the second quarter of the previous fiscal year. Net income rose 95% to $7.8 million from $4 million, while net sales increased 97% to $285 million.

Zulily attributed its overall strong performance to improved mobile sales, with mobile devices now accounting for 47% of North American sales, a growing customer base, and higher average order values.

San Antonio, Texas - CST Brands Inc. has entered into definitive agreements to purchase 100% of the membership interests of Lehigh Gas GP LLC, the general partner of Lehigh Gas Partners LP, from Lehigh Gas Corporation.The aggregate consideration will be $17 million in cash and approximately two million CST shares.

Toronto – Canadian Tire Corp. has named Michael Medline, who has served as company president since November 2013, as president and CEO effective Dec. 1. Current CEO Stephen Wetmore has agreed to remain on the board of directors in a new, non-executive position of deputy chairman.

Snyder’s-Lance is promising an innovation filled product pipeline for 2015 that includes meal-replacement snacks to drive growth for retailers following a pivotal second quarter for the company.

The J.M. Smucker Company has gained entry to a new business segment with the acquisition of privately held Sahale Snacks.

Smucker said it reached an agreement with Seattle-based Sahale to acquire the supplier of nut and fruit snacks to warehouse clubs, convenience stores and grocery retailers. Sahale’s annual sales of $50 million won’t have a material impact on Smucker, whose annual sales last year were $5.6 billion, but the deal does extend Smucker’s reach into new product categories.

Fred’s has brought Craig Barnes and Kelly Ma on board to lead the company’s new sourcing team, as part of the regional discount chain’s efforts to strengthen its overall inventory and buying management capabilities. The company tapped the pair in conjunction with its July sales results.

Big name CPG companies Procter & Gamble and Kraft struggled to show growth with their recent quarterly results, but that wasn’t the case at White Wave Foods.

Despite positive performance through mid-June, the remainder of the second quarter proved more challenging for Ann Inc., prompting the company to reduce its outlook for the second quarter so it reflects lower-than-anticipated comparable sales and gross margin rate performance.  

President and CEO Kay Krill cited soft traffic across the industry and a highly promotional environment, but added that — despite delivering a positive comp for the quarter at Ann Taylor — a disappointing performance at Loft offset results.

Sales at Coupons.com surged 32% in the second quarter, but the digital coupon provider reported an increased loss as stock-based compensation expenses ate into profits.

Total revenue increased 32% to $51.7 compared to $39.1 million while the company reported a loss of $6.9 million, $6.7 million of which was related to stock-based compensation, compared to a prior year loss of $2.9 million. On an adjusted basis, the company said profits increased to $3.7 million from a $100,000 profit the prior year.