Sky reports £1bn pre-tax profits, Murdoch stays chair
July 29, 2011
Sky has reported pre-tax profits of £1 billion in the year to the end of June, as the company announced a £750 million share buy-back to appease investors unhappy after the failure of News Corp’s bid to takeover the satellite broadcaster.
Sky has said that News Corp will participate in the share buy-back programme but that its 39.1 per cent stake in Sky will remain unaffected. This means that News Corp investors will benefit from the buy-back programme to the tune of £293 million.
Sky reported a revenue increase of 16 per cent to £6.6 billion in the year to the end of June. The company also reported that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 19 per cent to £1.4 billion.
The company’s full-year operating profits rose 23 per cent to £1.07 billion, the first time in its history the company has breached the £1 billion mark.
“This has been a year of outstanding operational and financial results for Sky,” said James Murdoch, who held onto his role as chairman after a board vote, despite criticism of his handling of the phone-hacking scandal.