Sky plc: operating profit up 16% for the first half results of the group

Sky plc, the new pay-TV conglomerate that merged the British BSkyB group with its German and Italian counterparts Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia, respectively (effective 12/11/2014), had a turnover of £5.604bn (€7.23bn on 31/12/2014), an increase of 5% over 12 months (£5.342bn, €6.41bn on 31/12/2013), during the first half of the 2015 financial year (from 01/07 at 31/12/2014), according to figures published on 04/02/2015. The group recorded an operating profit of £675m (€870.8m), up 16% compared to 31/12/2013 (£581m, €697.2m).

Sky announced an increase in its number of subscribers for the United Kingdom / Ireland region (876,000 new subscribers over the year, strongest growth for a second quarter since 2005), Germany and Austria (343,000 new subscribers over the year, of which 214,000 in Q2, a new record) and Italy (- 26,000 subscribers over the year, but 30,000 new subscribers in Q2, strongest growth since 2012), bringing the total number of subscribers to the Sky plc conglomerate to 24,842,000 as of 31/12/2014, an increase of 5% over 12 months (23,649,000 on 31/12/2013).