Liberty Media Corp

Liberty Media Corp. said it would repurchase up to $1 billion of its stock. Liberty said it expected to launch the share offer within the next week to repurchase Liberty Capital common stock at $105 to $115 a share, a premium of between 1.2% and 9% based on Tuesday's closing price. The company controlled by cable television pioneer John Malone also said operating results at its QVC home shopping channel and Starz network rose in the fourth quarter. QVC's fourth-quarter revenue rose 7% to $2.

Liberty Media Corp. said its fourth-quarter loss widened despite a 13% rise in revenue. The Englewood, Colo.-based company, which owns the QVC shopping channel, Starz movie channels and a large minority stake in News Corp., posted a fourth-quarter loss of $86 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2 million, or break-even on per-share basis, in the fourth quarter of 2004. Revenue rose 13% to $2.45 billion.

Liberty Media Corp. posted a first-quarter loss of $26 million, or 1 cent a share, contrasted with net income of $254 million, or 9 cents, a year earlier. Englewood, Colo.-based Liberty's QVC home-shopping network sales climbed 7% to $1.56 billion, yielding an operating profit of $212 million, up 6% from a year earlier. The Starz Entertainment Group division had sales of $259 million, up from $254 million. Operating profit at the unit fell 8% to $33 billion.

Liberty Media Corp. challenged News Corp.'s settlement of a shareholder lawsuit over the company's "poison pill" takeover defense. Englewood, Colo.-based Liberty asked Delaware Chancery Court Judge William B. Chandler III to reject the accord in papers filed Friday. The settlement, disclosed April 13, would bar shareholders from suing to change poison pill plans, Liberty said.

Liberty Media Corp. confirmed Thursday that it might swap its stake in News Corp. for a controlling interest in DirecTV Group Inc., a move that would thrust cable pioneer John Malone into the satellite television arena. Malone, Liberty Media's chairman, has been in discussions with News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch over making a swap for Liberty Media's approximately 20% stake in News Corp. since Malone quietly snapped up shares in 2004.

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media Corp., said Monday that he joined the board of Cablevision Systems Corp. this month because Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan had "been a friend for 40 years." "It seemed like I might be helpful to him in settling things down," Malone said during a Liberty Media International Inc. conference call.

Liberty Media Corp., controlled by cable television investor John Malone, posted a first-quarter profit of $254 million as sales rose at the QVC television shopping channel and the Discovery cable TV network. Net income was 9 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $10 million, or break-even on a per-share basis, a year earlier, the company said Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cable magnate John Malone will step into the chief executive's job at Liberty Media Corp. to succeed the retiring Robert Bennett, the company said. Bennett will remain a director of the media holding company and will work on special projects. His departure is scheduled for April 1. Malone, 64, is currently Liberty's chairman.

Liberty Media Corp. posted a narrower second-quarter loss Friday, while founder John Malone said he would take over as chief executive for two years and indicated that a sale of the company's News Corp. stake wasn't likely before the end of the year. Malone, who built Liberty over six years by purchasing minority stakes in media companies, said that as CEO he would step up the pace of acquisitions and begin taking "operational" positions in other businesses.