Sky PLC (LON:SKY), today announced the results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2018
Excellent financial and operating results
· 5% increase in like-for-like revenue to £13.6 billion
· 11% increase in Established Business EBITDA to £2.5 billion; 9% increase in EBITDA
· Operating costs down 70 basis points as a percentage of revenue
· Earnings per share (EPS) up 10% to 67.3 pence
· Statutory results: operating profit of £1,034 million, up 7%, and EPS of 47.5 pence, up 17%
· Sky Q in 3.6 million homes, up 2.3 million year on year
· Q4 customer growth up 39%; over 23 million European households enjoying Sky
· Q4 product growth up 81%; 63 million products now in Sky homes
Extending our leadership in content
· Put in place major new partnerships; Netflix, BT Sport, Mediaset Premium, Spotify
· Secured significant exclusive rights; Serie A, Premier League, Austrian Bundesliga, Formula 1
· Investment in home grown content paying off; continued increase in the commercial success of Sky original productions
Delivering greater value to our customers across the Group
· Excellent year for UK business with strong customer demand for Sky Q, Sky Fibre and Sky Mobile
· Comprehensively upgraded service in Germany, kick-starting next leg of growth in this market
· Transforming Italy into a diversified, multiplatform business; launched Sky over DTT and over fibre, plans for triple-play in 2019
Strong set of plans in place for future growth
Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, commented:
“It’s been an exceptional year. We’ve delivered another set of strong results with like-for-like revenues up 5%, Established Business EBITDA up 11% and EPS up 10%. Over half a million new customers joined Sky this year and we now have 63 million products in customer’s homes as they continue to choose Sky over other providers. As a consequence, we have extended our leadership position as Europe’s largest direct-to-consumer media and entertainment business.
“Our strong performance reflects the execution of our strategy over an extended period of time, driving sustained growth in revenue, profits and shareholder returns. We do this by providing our customers more of the best content, world class innovation in products and services, combined with industry leading front-line service. Together with an increasingly agile and efficient organisation, we are able to deliver for shareholders whilst ensuring the customer experience is better than anywhere else.
“Importantly, this strategy is now widely implemented across the Group. In the UK and Ireland, our largest market, we’ve delivered an excellent operational and financial performance whilst scaling our new initiatives. In Germany and Austria, we have comprehensively upgraded all our services as part of our plans for sustained long-term growth in what is Europe’s largest TV market. In Italy, we’ve had a ground-breaking year, opening up significant new growth opportunities for our business by offering new services over DTT and fibre, allowing us to reach new segments of the market.
“Alongside this, we’ve put in place further building blocks for future growth. We’ve secured more exclusive coverage of major sports events for our customers and our investment in Sky original productions is being widely recognised by customers and critics alike. We’ve rolled out Sky Q to all our major territories meaning a growing number of customers can enjoy the benefits of Europe’s best home entertainment service, and our agreements with Netflix, Mediaset, BT and Spotify will further enhance and extend our customer offer.
“We therefore enter the year ahead with good momentum. We have an excellent set of plans and we’re focused on executing them well. We are proud that Sky is recognised globally as an outstanding business and are confident we have the right assets and capabilities to continue creating long term growth opportunities and to capitalise on the strong position we’ve built.”
