Customer Growth For Sky But Profits Down
Sky recorded net customer growth of 183,000 in the October-December period of 2006, taking its total figure to 8.4 million customers, although its pre-tax profits in the six months to December 31 were down 4.6% year on year to £395 million.
There was record growth in Sky+ boxes to 2.13 million, in 1.97 million households.
It was announced at the start of the year that Sky+ had broken through the two million barrier for the first time (see Sky+ In Two Million Homes).
Sky said that its high-definition service had almost doubled in the second quarter of 2006 and is now in 184,000 homes.
James Murdoch, Sky’s chief executive, said: “Sales of new Sky boxes were the highest for six years, Sky+ broke through the two million barrier and Sky HD almost doubled in size after a strong Christmas sales period.
“With over one in four of our customers now taking an additional service from Sky, more people are choosing more of our products than ever before.
“The rollout of our all-IP broadband network is progressing ahead of schedule. As a result, we now reach more households than the entire UK cable network with our “See, Speak, Surf” (see