BSkyB delights City with record profits: Broadband subs pass 4 million
Pumps cash into Apple TV rival Roku
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BskyB went in the opposite direction to TalkTalk this morning as it passed the 4 million broadband subscriber barrier for the first time.
During the company's final quarter, ended 30 June, BSkyB added 138,000 new home broadband customers to its service, pushing its total user base on that network to 4,001,000.
BSkyB has added nearly 700,000 broadband punters to its subscriber list since the company's 2011 Q1.
Total revenue hit £6.8bn during the full year, up 4.5 per cent from £6.5bn year-on-year. Pre-tax profit climbed to £1.19bn from £1.01bn in 2011.
The pay-telly biz pulled in a record adjusted operating profit of £1.22bn for the year.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and some items were up some 12 per cent to £1.57bn. Shares in the company jumped 2 per cent to 699 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The telco's boss Jeremy Darroch said:
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.
The pay-TV company, which is 39 per cent-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, said it would buy back £500m of shares.
It has also pumped $10m equity funds into television-streaming service Roku - a set-top-box system that rivals Apple TV.
News Corp has also invested in Roku, bringing the total amount of money raised by the Saratoga, California-based startup to $45m. It has previously had a cash injection from Netflix and others as well.
Roku is also expected to be compete with YouView, which TalkTalk launched today. ®
