HD boosts BSkyB profits
BSkyB has announced it made an operating profit of £401m in the six months to December – up 3 per cent compared to 12 months earlier.
The company added 172,000 new subscribers in the second quarter, growing its customer base to 9.7m – but short of its 10m target.
The group posted first-half revenues of £2.9bn – up 10 per cent.
Almost 500,000 households signed up to receive Sky+HD – which provides 37 high definition channels – taking the total number to over two million.
Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said: “It has been another good quarter in what remains a tough environment, with more customers joining Sky and strong demand across our entire product range.”
Richard Hunter, Head of UK Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said: “The numbers have been well received, as evidenced by the spike in the share price in early trade.
“The 94000 subscribers added in the first quarter – itself an impressive performance – was totally eclipsed in the second quarter as a further 172,000 customers were attracted.”