BSkyB has reported a five-fold jump in its third-quarter profits, beating analyst expectations as it cemented its position as the top British pay television operator.
Boosted by 150,000 new subscribers and higher prices for its satellite service, BSkyB's profit before tax, excluding goodwill and other items, climbed to £65.8m sterling for the quarter to March 31, compared with £11.6m a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected quarterly profits of £51.2m.
In Ireland, the company had 279,000 digital subscribers by the end of March, up from 272,000 in the previous quarter. However, BSkyB cable subscribers dropped to 604,000 from 610,000, but it appears that many of those subscribers switched to its digital service.
Chief Executive Tony Ball said the company is on track to hit all of its targets, as total subscribers in the UK and Ireland grew to 6.7 million. The company, which is 36% owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, said in February it aimed to have seven million subscribers by the end of its fiscal year.
Churn, a measure of how many subscribers leave the service, dropped to a record low of 9.3%. The average revenue per subscriber, known as ARPU, rose 7% to £364 on the strength of premium services such as Sky+.
BSkyB has benefited from the collapse of ITV Digital, a failed venture created by broadcasters Granada and Carlton.
BSkyB's third-quarter revenue rose 15.7% to £819.2m, above the analysts' average estimate of £798.9m. Its third-quarter net profit, including goodwill amortisation and other items, totalled £17m, compared with a loss of £30.8m the same time last year.
