BSkyB (LSE: BSY), the UK’s largest digital TV platform, reported a 6% rise in revenue to £1.9bn in the three months to 30 September. It added that adjusted operating profit increased to £316m, an 11% jump on the same period last year, with earnings per share up 8% to 14p.
The share price of Sky added 14p to 872p in early trade.
Sky grew customers by 760,000 across its paid-for subscription products, while average revenue per user (ARPU) ticked up £17 to reach £576.
In June the company agreed to buy Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland in a £7.4bn deal. The chief executive, Jeremy Darroch, said Sky is “making good progress” with the proposed transaction, which it expects to close in mid November.
The new ‘Sky Europe’ will have 20 million customers, up from around 11.5 million subscribers in the UK currently.
Sky also hailed the delivery of a “clear strategy for growth” in the existing business. After making investments in connected TV services, Sky saw the number of On Demand downloads more than treble to 257 million in the quarter.
Prior to today, the City expected Sky to deliver 2015 earnings of 63.7p per share and support a near-term P/E of 13.5.
