Digital services send BSkyB’s profits soaring
PAY TV broadcaster BSkyB reported a solid start to its financial year yesterday as revenues, profits and subscribers rose in the first quarter, prompted by sales of add-ons such as Sky Go.
Sky increased its revenue by six per cent to £1.9bn for the three months to 30 September, with adjusted profit up nearly 13 per cent to £297m on the same period last year – excluding £429m earned from the sale of Sky’s 6.4 per cent stake in ITV to Liberty Global.
“The investments that we have made in new connected TV services are delivering growing benefits to our business,” said chief executive Jeremy Darroch, on the results that beat analysts’ expectations.
“We extended our lead as the UK’s largest connected TV platform, surpassing 6m connected homes. Sky Store more than doubled its revenues and our mobile TV service Sky Go Extra achieved a record quarter of growth.”
BSkyB agreed in June to pay $9bn for Rupert Murdoch’s 57 per cent stake in Sky Deutschland and all of Sky Italia to create a media powerhouse with 20 million customers. Darroch said that investors might be as rethink: “I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a lot more take up and I think the volatility we are seeing is probably making people reflect on that.”
Across its TV, broadband, phone and digital services, Sky sold 760,000 new paid-for subscription products last quarter.
BSkyB’s shares fell 1.22 per cent to 848p yesterday.