Sky profits up 12%

Sky shares were up almost 7% on the morning of its latest financial results after the company reported a 12% increase in profit – a record £1.56 billion.

During the 12 month period which saw the return of Game of Thrones, Sky added 808,000 new customers – 445,000 in the UK and Ireland alone – and 3.3 million new products. Group revenue was up 7% to £11.97 billion.

Group chief executive, Jeremy Darroch, said it had been an “excellent year” for the broadcaster.

“The group is leveraging the many opportunities of scale; sharing resources, insights, expertise and innovation,” Darroch said.

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“Our deep insights into the needs of customers, along with our investments in brilliant programmes and technology, strong relationships with our partners and, above all, our desire to embrace change means that we continue to better serve our customers, and grow our business.”

2016 also saw Sky increase its investment in virtual reality and eSports – with a partnership with ITV and Ginx TV seeing the launch of the UK and Ireland’s only 24-hour eSports channel.

The broadcaster is also set to launch a virtual reality app this summer, with 12 free short VR films in the pipeline for later this year.