Liberty Media’s Loss Narrows to $107 Million

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.

Liberty relies on the QVC television shopping channel and Starz and Encore movie networks to drive sales. The quarter’s loss narrowed to $107 million after QVC revenue rose 15% and Liberty’s other share holdings produced smaller losses. Malone holds an 18% voting stake in News Corp. and investments in Time Warner Inc. and IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Englewood, Colo.-based Liberty trimmed its net loss to 4 cents a share, from $314 million, or 11 cents, a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 12% to $2.02 billion.

Shares of Liberty, down 9% this year, fell 4 cents to $8.48.