BSkyB has seen a further dramatic rise in profits. A 17% increase has seen operating profits reach £1,243 million, which chief executive Jeremy Darroch has attributed to the transitioning of the business towards a multiproduct growth strategy.
The broadcaster now has 10.6 million customers in the UK and Ireland; an increase of 312,000 customers on the year.
TV customers increased by just 20,000, in line with similar increases announced by Virgin Media and BT Vision earlier this week. HD homes rose by 121,000 to 4,343,000 while broadband put on an additional 138,000 to reach 4,001,000.
BSkyB confirmed that its broadband and telephony services would shortly be rolled out in the Irish Republic through a wholesale agreement with BT Ireland.
“In what remains a tough economic environment, customers are choosing Sky over other providers. We’ve continued to add new households and existing customers are remaining loyal and taking more products from us,” said Darroch. ““Looking ahead, we will continue to deploy capital consistently to achieve our goals. We will invest sensibly in areas where customers see value – in getting better on screen and improving our products and services – and maintain a strong focus on operating efficiency and cost control to underpin our investments and deliver increasing returns for shareholders.”
BSkyB today announced a wholesale agreement for a suite of channels to be carried on TalkTalk’s new YouView service and eight new kids channels to be added to its Sky Go multiscreen platform.
