Sky’s interim results for the six months ending December 31 show that pre-tax profits were down 4.6% from year on year to £395 million.
However, revenue increased by 10% to £2,220 million, including £22 million from Sky Broadband and £77 million from Easynet Enterprise.
The satellite broadcaster recorded net customer growth in the October-December period of 183,000, taking its subscriber numbers to 8.4 million.
There was record growth in Sky+ boxes to 2.1 million, in 1.97 million households, whilst HD subscribers almost doubled in the second quarter to 184,000.
James Murdoch, Sky chief executive, said: “In the last six months we have achieved a number of important milestones in building our business for the future.
“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.
“At the end of our first full quarter as a broadband provider, benefits are starting to flow through the business. Sky Broadband is attracting new and existing customers with more than two-thirds opting for our faster, paid-for products.
“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’ combination of TV, telephony and broadband products.
“We’re on track for our targets and our expansion into broadband and telephony positions us well to take advantage of a growing opportunity in a £20 billion industry.”
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