Caution from Sky Deutschland
February 6, 2014
By Chris Forrester
Sky Deutschland, majority-owned by 21st Century Fox, issued a more cautious series of forecasts for this coming year. CEO Brian Sullivan and his team said it expects operating earnings this year to be within the range €70 million-€90 million, which is below the consensus expected by the market.
Sullivan said the broadcaster expects net subs growth this year of 400,000 – 450,000. Sky Deutschland added 138,000 new subs in Q4. He highlighted that 2013 had proven to be a “milestone” year for the company as it delivered its first year of EBITDA positive trading.
Brian Sullivan, CEO of Sky Deutschland: “We have delivered on our promise and achieved our first positive full year EBITDA. This is an important milestone for Sky. We have even more exciting plans for this year and expect a significant acceleration of net growth while maintaining a strong increase in revenues and EBITDA. 2013 has been a great year, and 2014 will be even better.”
Sullivan added: “We have even more exciting plans for this year and expect a significant acceleration of net growth while maintaining a strong increase in revenues and EBITDA. 2013 has been a great year, and 2014 will be even better.”
Revenues for the quarter climbed 16.1 per cent to €414.3 million from €356.8 million, although operating expenses grew 10.3 per cent to €451.3 million.
For fiscal 2013, Sky Deutschland’s net loss narrowed to €133 million, and overall revenues increased 16 per cent to €1.55 billion.
According to the firm, continued customer growth combined with a rising average revenue per customer or ARPU led to this strong financial performance. Monthly ARPU grew to a new high in the fourth quarter of €34.56, up 5.5 per cent year-on-year.