Sky Turns Down Premier Bids As Profits Soar
BSkyB today announced that operating profit hit record levels in its third quarter and confirmed that the FA Premier League games would not be sub-licensed as all of the bids received by the group failed to meet the reserve price tag.
Operating profit for the nine month period to the 31 March 2004 rose by an impressive 67% to hit an all time high of £438 million, proving that the group is well on track to meet this year’s financial targets.
Total group revenue increased by 16% during the same period to £2,697 million, helped along by Sky Plus smashing its customer target three months early, as customer numbers increased by 72,000 to 322,000.
Commenting on the figures, BSkyB chief executive, James Murdoch, said: “Sky continues to deliver improvement in its financial performance, and remains on track to hit all operational and financial targets.”
During the last quarter, direct to home (DTH) subscriber levels slowed. Murdoch said: “This reflected our decision to pull back on platform marketing in a seasonally quiet period.” However, remaining upbeat, Sky says that it remains on track to achieve its target of eight million DTH subscribers by the end of 2005.
Sky Sports was celebrating a strong set of audience figures for its third financial quarter as UEFA Champions League Football continued to perform. The channel saw a record in-home audience of almost three million viewers for its exclusive live coverage of the quarter final first leg between Chelsea and Arsenal.
Last month, Sky announced that it had won exclusive live rights for the opening away matches for the 2006 Football World Cup. These will ensure a wealth of live international football on Sky over the next four years, says the statement (see Sky Kicks Off Premiership Auction After EC Ruling).
Looking forward, Sky commented, that the management remains focused on the ongoing operational execution of its strategy and is confident that medium term targets will be met.
BSkyB: 0207 705 3000 sky.com
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