BSkyB to create 1,300 jobs as it reveals profit growth and new Pay TV service
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has announced the creating of 1,300 jobs in the UK and Ireland over the next two years as it revealed its highest ever first-half adjusted operating profit, up 16% to £601 million, while its revenue grew by 6% for the second half of 2011.
Announcing its half hear results this morning, BSkyB revealed that its revenue grew to £3.4bn, while its operating profit was £601m, with over three million customers taking all three of TV, broadband and telephony, a growth on 2010 of 26%.
The company has also announced plans to launch a new pay TV service this year, aimed at 13 million customers, which will allow viewers to watch content through broadband connected devices, on a PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, games console or connected TV.
The rapid growth of broadband-connected devices is opening up new opportunities to retail our content directly to additional consumers.
Jeremy Darroch, chief executive, commented:"It has been a strong first half with progress on all fronts. While these are tough times for many consumers, our customers are staying loyal and more households continue to join us. From broadband to high definition, people are choosing Sky for a wider range of products than ever, underlining the transformation of our business over the last few years.
"Our approach to growth is working well. We're adding more value to the Sky subscription by investing where it matters most to customers, with more great entertainment and ground-breaking innovation like Sky Go. Alongside that, we're improving efficiency behind the scenes so we can expand margins at the same time. Financially, we've delivered another strong result, with our highest ever first-half operating profit and 20% growth in earnings per share. On the back of this, we're increasing the dividend again and have started our share buyback programme to increase returns for our shareholders.
"We expect the environment to remain tough in calendar 2012. No consumer business can be immune to these conditions and we will manage any short-term headwinds as they emerge. Staying focused on the long-term opportunity, we've got a strong set of plans to keep delivering for customers and shareholders. This will be an outstanding year on screen, including more original British productions and a new channel dedicated to Formula 1, and we have exciting products in the pipeline that will create more ways to access our content and more reasons to join and stay with us."