Sky profit jump, tops 10m subs
January 27, 2011
BSkyB has reported a 26 per cent jump in half-year pre-tax profit as it surpasses 10 million subscribers. Pre-tax profits at the broadcaster rose to £467 million (€541m) in the last six months of 2010, with revenues up 15 per cent to £3.2 billion.
BSkyB said demand for HD television services – up by 68 per cent on a year ago – had boosted results.
Chief executive Jeremy Darroch welcomed “a half year of outstanding performance.” He added that being “more broadly based”, offering communication services as well as pay television developments such as 3D and on-demand viewing would be key to future growth. “It’s not just about adding more households, though we will do that,” he told the BBC. “It’s about increasing the penetration of products in our customer base.”
In the three months to the end of December, Sky added 140,000 net new subscribers, it sold 343,000 new HD TV packages and 204,000 broadband packages, its strongest broadband growth for more than two years. ARPU was a record £541 per year and churn was 9.5 per cent.