Sky has announced an 11% increase in group revenue for the six months to the end of September, to £1.19bn.
The satellite broadcaster added that its adjusted operating profit of £150m reflects very strong Sky+ customer growth, of 323,000 to 2.7 million.
Sky also reported operating profit of £143 million, including a full first quarter’s investment of £51 million in Sky Broadband and Talk.
James Murdoch, Sky chief executive said: “We’ve seen continued good demand from customers for our entire product range, with over one million product sales for the fourth consecutive quarter. Sky+ has been exceptional, growing faster than ever before – and is now enjoyed by almost one third of Sky TV customers.
“We launched Sky Broadband in the belief that customers would respond to quality and value, and they have. After just 14 months over one million customers have chosen Sky Broadband, and growth continues.
“As expected, our financial performance reflected strong product sales, our investment in high quality programming and a full quarter of investment in Sky Broadband and Talk. We expect that performance for the full year will be in line with our plans.”
At the start of last month, the Competition Commission provisionally found that BSkyB’s acquisition of a 17.9% share in ITV “restricts competition and therefore operates against the public interest” (see Sky Could Be Forced To Sell ITV Stake).
Towards the end of the month, it was reported that Sky could give up nearly one fifth of its ITV voting rights in an effort to avoid competition regulations and hold onto its share in ITV (see Sky Could Give Up Some ITV Voting Rights).
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