BSkyB Sees Slowdown In Subscriber Growth

Satellite giant BSkyB has announced a slow down in growth of its subscriber base during its fiscal first quarter, showing reduced subscriber growth of 57,000, down from the 83,000 new subscribers it added in the previous quarter.

Despite this downturn, revenues for the period increased by 8% year on year to £1.02 billion with operating profit rising by 14% to £215 million. Elsewhere, profit after tax jumped by 15% to reach £140 million.

Sky+ households increased by 139,000 in the quarter to one million while multi-room households added a further 103,000 during the period to reach a total of 748,000.

Commenting on the broadcaster’s results, James Murdoch, chief executive of Sky said: “Sky Increased sales to new customers and achieved strong profit growth this quarter despite facing a challenging competitive environment and continued economic pressures on consumers.”

He continued: “The team has met or over-achieved core performance measures including sales, operating profit and earnings per share, not withstanding an increase in churn. We remain on track for our 2005 and 2010 targets.”

Murdoch also stated that BSkyB would continue to invest in pay-TV in the UK and Ireland, as well as consider potential acquisitions following the recent purchase of broadband supplier Easynet.

BSkyB announced its interest in Easynet last month, revealing an agreement to purchase the internet service provider in a deal worth £211 million.

The satellite broadcaster enjoyed a strong 2004, showing total revenue of over £4 billion for the year to end 30 June 2004, with an 11% jump in turnover and a rise of 34% in operating profit.

Sky: 08702 40 40 40 www.sky.com