BSkyB Growth Beats Expectations

BSkyB gained 218,000 new digital satellite customers in the six months ended 31 December 2001, beating consensus expectations and taking the group’s customer base to 5.7 million.

As well as a healthy growth in subscribers, the satellite broadcaster’s average revenue per user (ARPU) also rose, by 11% to £331. Overall revenues were up 22% to £1.3 billion, according to the company’s interim financial results, released this morning.

Churn – the rate at which customers are leaving the Sky Digital service – remained stable at 10.4%. Sky has benefited from a virtual freezing of marketing and development activity from the UK’s leading, but heavily indebted cable group, NTL.

However, BSkyB has been hit by a £985 million value write down of its 22% stake in German TV group Kirch. It is expected that Sky will seek to exit from the German business altogether and that it will not be taking any further investments in the business.

At 11:30 this morning shares in BSkyB were up 31p at £7.33.

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