Strong financial results
Group revenue up 5%
Operating profit up 16%
Adjusted basic earnings per share of 27.1 pence
Interim dividend of 12.30 pence per share
Growing customer demand across the group
Significant outperformance in the UK and Ireland
o 204,000 new customers, the highest growth in nine years
o Over 1 million new products, the highest growth in four years
Record growth in Germany and Austria with 214,000 new customers
Strong performance in Italy with 30,000 new customers, the highest growth in 12 quarters
Significant group-wide reduction in churn
Building for the future
Strengthening drama slate: Fortitude launched in all five markets and 160 hours of original drama in production across the group
Extending leadership in sport: exclusively live UK and Irish rights to The Open Championship
Opening up OTT opportunity with streaming services in all our markets
Growing new revenue streams: Sky Store revenues up 90% year on year
Good progress with integration planning and synergies
Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, Sky, commented:
"We have delivered an excellent operational and financial performance in our first set of results as the new Sky. We closed the first six months of the year with revenues up 5% and operating profit up 16%, reflecting strong customer demand in all five of our markets.
"The strength of our performance in the UK and Ireland shows that our approach to segmenting the market with the complementary Sky and NOW TV brands is working. Across the board, customers are responding to our investment in more high-quality TV and innovative new services. This has resulted in the highest customer growth in nine years, the highest total product growth in four years and the lowest churn in a decade.
"Alongside our continued strength in the UK and Ireland, the acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland gives us an expanded opportunity for growth. Both businesses had a strong quarter, Germany posting its highest ever customer growth and Italy showing resilience with good customer growth in a challenging economic environment. Integration is progressing well and we are excited about the potential for the three businesses to be even stronger together.
"The simultaneous launch of Fortitude, our ambitious new original drama, to 20 million customers across all five markets, shows the potential we now have to operate at greater scale. This is just the first of many opportunities we have to launch new products and services for customers in the months ahead.
"Six months into the year, we've seen a good performance right across the new Sky. We have world-class capability within the expanded business and a strong set of plans that mean we are well placed to deliver growth and returns for shareholders."
