Sky profits rise expected

The City will look to see if broadcaster Sky can continue to add customers under increasing competition from rival BT, and will find out whether Dixons Carphone was a retail winner or loser over Christmas.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jan 2016, 06:00 BST
Another good period of growthAnother good period of growth
Another good period of growth

Pay TV giant Sky is expected to shrug off the increasing threat of rival BT and notch up further growth when it reports its half-year results on Friday.

Analysts at Numis expect the broadcaster to post a rise in interim pre-tax profits of 6% to £620m compared to a year ago, following on from strong trading in October that saw it record its best first-quarter UK customer growth for four years.

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The group said then it added 77,000 customers in the three months to the end of September across the UK and Ireland, up 50% on a year earlier.

Sky, which serves more than 20 million customers group-wide following the acquisition of businesses in Italy and Germany, hailed a ‘’strong start to the year’’ as it posted a 10% leap in overall group earnings to £375m.

Numis analyst Paul Richards said: “We forecast another good period of customer growth, following on from robust first quarter results in October.”

He added that Sky offers “defensive growth” in a competitive media market.

The group said broadband was its star performer in October, with a 77% surge in new customers, up 133,000 on a year earlier.

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