HSN poised for long-term growth following Q4 results

HSNi ended 2013 with record customer levels at its HSN and Cornerstone brands, which bolstered the company’s fourth-quarter results.



The company’s total net sales grew 4% over the prior year to $1 billion.

HSN's net sales increased 2% to $697.4 million. Digital sales grew 7% with penetration increasing 190 basis points to 39.5%. Sales grew in health, beauty and apparel and accessories, offset by lower sales in jewelry, culinary and electronics. Net sales were favorably impacted by lower than historical returns in many product categories. The average price point increased 1% while the units shipped remained unchanged.



Cornerstone's net sales increased 8% to $322.4 million. The increase in net sales was driven by sales growth in the home brands. Digital sales grew 9% with penetration increasing 110 basis points to 69.3%. Cornerstone operates interactive, aspirational home and apparel lifestyle brands including Frontgate, Ballard Designs, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Chasing Fireflies, Improvements and Travelsmith. Cornerstone operates separate e-commerce sites for all the brands, distributes more than 300 million catalogs annually, and has 11 retail and outlet stores.



"Throughout 2013, we successfully managed the company to position us for long-term growth. We kept our focus on the customer, emphasized our unique content and proprietary products, strengthened our digital platform, further leveraged opportunities and synergies across the HSN and Cornerstone brands and returned value to our shareholders by delivering nearly $200M through share repurchases and cash dividends," said CEO Mindy Grossman. "During the fourth quarter, we achieved 4% sales growth and a digital sales increase of 8%, including mobile growth of 59%. Adjusted EPS growth for the quarter and year were 11% and 19%, respectively."