BSkyB Shows Strong Half-Year Figures, On Target For 2003

The half-year was a good one financially for Sky, with tight cost controls paying off. Operating profit before goodwill jumped by 126% to £158 million and pre-tax profits were £16.6 million, up from a loss of £1.3 billion for the same six months in 2001.

Satellite revenues rose by 23% to £1.1 billion, whilst advertising revenues grew by 13% to £133 million in a relatively weak market. Churn – the proportion of customers cancelling contracts – was down to 9.4%. This is the lowest rate since the launch of Sky Digital and is 1% point lower than the six months to 31 December 2001.

The group says that it is now on track to hit all of its targets for the full financial year (this is Sky’s first half). With most of the annual negotiations complete for 2003 calendar year, Sky is confident of delivering double digit year-on-year growth in advertising revenues for the financial year. It has also announced that Rupert Murdoch’s son James is to join the board as a non-executive director.

Shares in BSkyB were up 2.4% at 598.5p by mid-morning today, following the release of the results.