Liberty Media Groups e-commerce businesses, which include Backcountry.com, experienced revenue growth of 65.0% in the fourth quarter and 92.0% for the year. The company saw adjusted operating income (OIBDA) growth of 19.0% in the fourth quarter and 78.0% for the year.
Liberty said the increase in revenue for the quarter was primarily driven by the impact of the Bodybuilding.com acquisition and strong organic growth at the other e-commerce companies.
Backcountry.com CMO Dustin Robertson commented that the online retailer was on a “pretty record pace to beat earnings and revenue forecast” until about late October. Like many retailers, Backcountry.com experienced sudden low numbers during the end of the year. “On the internet were super-susceptible to competitive price going on out there,” he said. As a result, prices were incredibly low in December but quickly were back up in January.
“All the players were with met their numbers for the year,” he said. But if vendors had been able to hold their prices in the fourth quarter, “We couldve driven a lot more earnings.”
Liberty Media Groups increase in revenue for the year was due to the same factors as the fourth quarter as well as the inclusion of a full year of results from Backcountry.com, which was acquired in June 2007.
