29th Jan 2016 07:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sky PLC said Friday it has reappointed James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, as chairman, succeeding Nicholas Ferguson, as the television broadcaster reported 5% revenue growth for its first half and strong customer growth in its second quarter.
Murdoch was previously chief executive of Sky between 2003 and 2007 and chairman between 2007 and 2012. Martin Gilbert has been appointed deputy chairman, with Andrew Sukawaty to replace Gilbert as Sky's senior independent director.
For the half year to end-December, Sky posted a pretax profit of GBP414 million, down from GBP1.21 billion a year before, mostly as a result of exceptional profits from the sale of the company's stake in ITV PLC in the year comparative period not repeating.
However, operating profit also slipped to GBP524 million from GBP536 million a year before, as a rise in revenue to GBP5.72 billion from GBP4.30 billion was offset by a big step-up in operating expenses to GBP5.19 billion from GBP3.77 billion, resulting from the costs of the company's acquisition and integration Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia.
The company added 337,000 new customers during the quarter, which it said included its highest UK and Ireland customer growth in ten years.
Sky proposed an interim dividend of 12.6 pence per share, up from 12.3p a year before.
"We have had another very strong half as we continue to transform Sky, broadening our business and expanding into new markets and customer segments. This strategy is delivering today and opening up significant growth opportunities for the future. We are pursuing those opportunities with energy and purpose," said Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch in a statement.
"We're excited about 2016 and we start the year with good momentum. With an outstanding set of new initiatives and products for our customers, we are well positioned to deliver further strong growth and returns for shareholders," Darroch added.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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