Sky says ‘hands off’ to more regulation

Chris Forrester

BSkyB boss Jeremy Darroch says his company has more than enough regulation and doesn’t need a further Ofcom intervention. Darroch reported positive news on subs numbers, profits and confirmed that Sky is managing to improve its business position despite the UK economic downturn.


BSkyB posted a sharp rise in profits in the year to June 30 as householders continued splashing out on home entertainment amid tough economic conditions. The firm posted a profit before tax of £456m, compared with £60m over the previous year as revenues rose to £5.35bn from £4.95bn. Sky’s overall numbers mean that it is on target to tip 10m subscribers by this time next year.

ARPU also rose, to £464 (up £37 - better than expected). Net customer growth of 124,000 in the fourth quarter saw Sky at 9.442 million; annual net additions stand at 462,000, the highest in five years.

Darroch reported:

• Demand for Sky+HD very strong; creating attractive organic revenue and high return opportunity for the business;
• 534,000 Sky+HD net additions since January 2009 to reach 1.313 million, generating annualised incremental revenue in excess of £100 million;
• Continued strong growth in Sky+ to 5.5 million households or 58% of the base;
• Customers continue to respond to the value and quality of Sky bundles - 16% of customers now take all three of TV, broadband and telephony, up from 11% at 30 June 2008.

“This is the year where high definition TV moved centre-stage. We have seen a very strong response from customers to the new lower price of the Sky+HD box, with the total number of HD customers more than doubling to 1.3 million during the year. The rapid growth of HD has helped take Sky+ to new heights, with more than half of our customers now choosing to control their viewing with Sky+,” said Darroch.