BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP PLC
Interim Management Statement and Results for the three months
ended 30 September 2008
Strong customer and product growth; operating profit up by 21%(1)
Sky now in over 9 million homes
Net customer growth of 87,000, up 5% year on year, to 9.067 million
. New customer additions of 334,000, up 2% year on year
. Churn of 10.9%, 0.4 percentage point improvement year on year
. ARPU increases to GBP430, up GBP19 year on year
Strong growth in additional products
. Sky+ homes now over 4 million, with net additions of 421,000
. Record Sky+ HD growth of 93,000 to 591,000
. Multiroom households increase by 51,000 to 1.655 million
. Sky Broadband growth of 164,000, to 1.792 million, 20% of Sky
homes
. Sky Talk growth of 120,000 to 1.361 million, 15% of Sky homes
Operating profit increases by 21%(1)
. Revenue increases by 5% on the comparable period(2) to GBP1,249
million
- 8% growth in retail subscription revenue
. Operating profit up by 21% to GBP182 million(1)
- Reported operating profit of GBP179 million up by 25%
. Adjusted earnings per share of 6.1 pence(3) up by 22%
- Basic earnings per share of 4.2 pence
- Net exceptional items of GBP33 million
Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, said:"This is a good set of results in a
challenging environment. We've
continued to perform well by focusing on quality, value and service.
Over nine million customers now enjoy the best in entertainment through
Sky and, in tougher times, we're helping more people to save money on
broadband and telephony as well."Our financial performance is strong, with
a 21% increase in operating
profit. Looking ahead, the consumer environment will remain
challenging and we are well positioned to manage the business
accordingly. Our products are better than ever, we are strong
financially and we have a great team of people."
(1) Excludes exceptional operating cost of GBP3 million (2008: GBP7
million)
(2) For the three months ended 30 September 2007
(3) Adjusted EPS stated before exceptional operating charges of GBP3
million, an impairment of GBP24 million relating to the Group's
investment in ITV, GBP1 million loss relating to mark-to-market in
derivative financial instruments that do not qualify for hedge
accounting, an adjustment of GBP6 million relating to a deferred tax
write-off following a change in law in the period in respect of
industrial building allowances, and related tax effects
Enquiries:
Analysts/Investors:
Robert Kingston Tel: 020 7705 3726
Francesca Pierce Tel: 020 7705 3337
E-mail: investor-relations@bskyb.com
Press:
Robert Fraser Tel: 020 7705 3036
Bella Vuillermoz Tel: 020 7800 2651
E-mail: corporate.communications@bskyb.com
A conference call for UK and European analysts and investors will be
held at 08.30 a.m. (GMT) today. To register for this, please contact
Kirsty Flockhart at Finsbury on +44 20 7251 3801. A live webcast of
this call and replay facility will be available on Sky's corporate
website, http://www.sky.com/corporate.
There will be a separate conference call for US analysts and investors
at 10.00 a.m. (EST) today. Details of this call have been sent to US
institutions and can be obtained from Dana Johnston at Taylor Rafferty
on +1 212 889 4350. A live webcast of this call and replay facility
will be available on Sky's corporate website, http://www.sky.com/
corporate.
Click on, or paste the following link into your web browser, to view
the associated PDF document.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/1091H_-2008-10-30.pdf
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