Sky HD bump boosts profit
BSkyB says pre-tax profit almost doubled in the nine months to the end of March, driven by a 76% bump in takeup of its high definition television service.
The pay-TV company reports pre-tax profit increased to £707m in the last three quarters, up from £339m in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue rose to £4.4bn, up 10% from the £3.9bn registered last year.
The broadcaster, which operates the Sky 1 and Sky Sports channels, says therewere 428,000 net additions to its HD service in the period, up 76% year on year.
Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of Sky, claims the “huge” response was due to its decision to “cut the upfront cost” of the service for customers.
The company has investment heavily in its HD service. It adds Sky News HD will launch on election night.
The pay-TV firm reports it added 62,000 net new customers in the three months to the end of March, pushing it subscriber base to 9.7 million.
Darroch adds that the results show that its “financial performance is accelerating”.
The company says the number of customers taking its TV, broadband and telephony package increased 39% year on year in the nine months to March.
Earlier this week, the Competition Appeals Tribunal says it would consider Sky’s appeal against Ofcom’s March ruling that it should cut the prices it sells sports content to rivals.
