BSkyB FY revenues rise 8 percent

BSkyB FY revenues rise 8 percent

	Published : Fri, 28 Jul 2006 10:45 By : Cedric Benson Print this Story

LONDON - British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC today reported an 8 percent rise in full-year revenues, but the pre-tax profits were up by only 1 percent to £798 million in the year ending June 30. The company's revenues increased to £4.15 billion up from £3.84 billion.

Britain's biggest pay-TV company, which launched a "free" broadband service last week also said that its customer numbers rose by 77,000 in the three months ending June 30. This increase puts it on target to meet its aim of having 10 million customers by 2010. The group, which is 38 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, said that the subscriber numbers were more than the 61,000 expected by analysts.

Overall 389,000 customers were added in the past 12 months, BSkyB said. The company reported that the rate of churn was 10.6 percent in the last quarter less than the 11 percent expected by analysts. Churn is the proportion of customers who cancelled their Sky subscriptions. The annualized revenue per user or ARPU was £388 in the three-month period ending June. This figure was down by £4, which the company attributed to "a slight seasonal deterioration in the mix of subscription packages during the quarter."

Chief executive James Murdoch said the company had a clear vision of where it wanted to go. “We have a clear vision for the future growth and direction of our business and we feel encouraged by the strong demand our customers show for new entertainment and communications services," he said. “With a continued focus on providing more choice, flexibility and control, we feel confident as we look ahead to the substantial opportunity this market holds for us.”

He added that the initial interest in the broadband offering had convinced him that the company was moving in the right direction. “It’s very early days but there’s no doubt we have struck a chord,” he said. “We are seeing a good response with customers and we are very excited about the opportunity.”