Sky profits up 10%

Despite what was expected to be a “tough trading period”, Sky has reported a 10% increase in operating profit for the three months ended 30 September 2015.

A 6% increase in group revenue to £2.8 billion saw profits hit £375 million, bolstered by 134,000 new customer additions (a 7% year on year increase) and 937,000 new paid-for subscription products.

In the UK and Ireland, a 77,000 increase in customers – up more than 50% year on year and the highest rate of Q1 customer growth for four years – resulted in a 20% increase in profit to £358 million.

Meanwhile, Germany and Austria recorded a year-on-year profit loss of £8 million as a result of increased Bundesliga and Champions League costs. Italy was also down -£8 million in profit.

“We have made a strong start to the year with customers responding well to the quality and breadth of our content, products and services,” said chief executive Jeremy Darroch.

“As we continue to place customers right at the heart of our business, we are focused on offering the very best content at the same time as anticipating customers’ evolving needs, delivering the programmes that they love across multiple platforms and devices.”

Darroch added that Sky’s 10 million household-strong connected service will begin to roll out across other territories as the group looks to generate “additional revenue streams”