Shares Of HSN Spike Higher Following Q1 Report

Shares of

were trading higher by more than two percent shortly after Wednesday's opening bell as traders and investors reacted positively to the company's first quarter results. HSN's earned $0.63 per share in the first quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.58 per share. Similarly, revenue of $841.9 million was better than the $826.08 million analysts expected. The reported figures represents a 26 percent increase in earnings per share from a year ago while sales rose eight percent over the same period. By segment, HSN sales rose 10 percent from the same quarter a year ago to $600.5 million in direct-response to a television marketing campaign that started during the fourth quarter of 2014. Digital sales grew 18 percent with penetration increasing 280 basis points to 40.7 percent. Cornerstone sales rose four percent to $241.4 million driven by sales growth in the home brand. Digital sales penetration increased 60 basis points to 68.1 percent from a year ago. "Our performance in the quarter reinforces the experiential power of our content and our ability to create engagement across our platforms," stated Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN. HSNi had net sales growth of 8 percent and Adjusted EBITDA growth of 22 percent. These results demonstrate the continued execution of our strategy to drive commerce by creating personal connections with our customers and offering unique and compelling products. Once again, accelerated performance in digital was a key factor in our strong growth momentum with digital up 12 percent, representing half of our total business. Mobile sales grew 31% for the quarter, with penetration at 18% of total sales." During the quarter, the company paid a special cash dividend of $10 per share along with the quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share and also announced a new four million share repurchase program. The company also approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.35 per share payable June 17, 2015 to shareholders of record as of June 3, 2015.