Sky Sees 5-Percent Gain in Half-Year Revenues

For the six months ended December 31, 2017, Sky posted a 5-percent increase in revenue to £6.7 billion ($9.5 billion).

Sky saw growth in each territory, with the U.K. and Ireland up 4 percent to £4.4 billion ($6.3 billion), Germany and Austria up 8 percent to £1 billion ($1.4 billion), and Italy up 4 percent to £1.3 billion ($1.9 billion).

There was a 10-percent gain in EBITDA to £1.1 billion ($1.6 billion).

Sky gained 365,000 new customers, growing to 22.9 million, as well as 2 million products added and 20 million pay-as-you-go buys in the six months.

Jeremy Darroch, group chief executive at Sky, commented: “We have delivered excellent results. Sector-leading 5-percent revenue growth, a 15-percent increase in established business EBITDA and, after investment in future growth, EPS grew by 11 percent. This performance reflects the investment choices we have made in recent years, allowing us to more than offset the pressure on consumer spending across Europe, as more customers continue to choose Sky for more of their services.

“Operationally we’ve seen good customer demand for our products and services. We now have almost 23 million customers taking 61.7 million paid-for-products and making 20 million pay-as-you-go buys in six months. In addition, we have made further strong progress on operational efficiency, keeping operating costs flat in absolute terms.

“As Europe’s leading direct-to-consumer TV entertainment company, we are making good progress on our future growth plans. In content, our focus on high-quality, differentiated local programming to complement what we acquire through our partners is working well. Viewing to Sky channels increased by 6 percent and, following both critical success and record audiences for Sky original productions, we will be increasing our investment in original content each and every year.

“In innovation, we are constantly improving our customers’ experience and making it easier for them to take Sky. In the U.K. and Ireland, Sky Q is now in 2 million homes. We recently launched Sky Q in Italy and will roll out the service to Germany and Austria in the next six months. We will also introduce Sky over fiber in Italy and our first all-IP service in Austria, both without the need for a satellite dish.

“Looking ahead, we expect the consumer environment to remain challenging, however, we remain confident in our strategy and our ability to execute our plans.”