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Nearly 9m people now subscribe to Sky after the company added more customers than expected over the last three months, it was revealed this morning.
Publishing results for its full financial year, Sky said it had 8.98m subscribers in total with net customer additions over the last three months coming in ahead of analyst expectations at 92,000.
Revenue for the full year stood at £4.95bn, up 9% on the year before. Its adjusted operating profit was £752m, down 2% from the year before and attributed to continuing investment in its broadband operations.
"We have continued to grow strongly in a more difficult consumer environment. More customers are choosing Sky for a broader range of products and are staying with us for longer," said Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch. "While there is much uncertainty around the consumer environment, there remains good headroom for profitable growth in our core sectors. We are well equipped to meet customers’ demands for quality, choice and value; and we have a strong financial model to deliver growth and returns."
Sky noted that quarterly annualised churn has been brought down to 9.8%, its lowest level since 2005, with average revenue per customer reaching a new high of £427 on the back of continued strong take-up of its premium upsell products such as Sky+ and Sky+ HD, and its push into bundle selling with 11% of its customer base now taking its "triple play" package of TV, broadband and fixed-line telephony.
Sky+ is now taken by 41% of Sky's total customer base, with 321,000 subscribers signing up for the PVR in the last three months.
"Sky+ was supported by a marketing campaign during the quarter designed to use the power of advocacy to broaden the appeal of Sky and to communicate benefits of the product," the company explained.
Sky+ HD was taken by 33,000 new customers over the last three months, pushing the premium high-definition PVR to a total customer base of nearly 500,000. The figure reflects take-up prior to Sky's reduction in the Sky+ HD price from £249 to £150 effective July 1.
200,000 people signed up to Sky Broadband over the last three months, with Sky now serving a total of 1.6m broadband customers. Of those, 89% are on Sky's network and only 33% take the basic free service.
Looking ahead, Sky concluded: "Our 2009 financial year sees the start of full roll-out of Digital Switchover, supported by committed marketing spend from Digital UK and the Switchover Help Scheme. By final analogue switch-off in 2012, all 26 million households in the UK must select a digital TV solution for their home. Sky is well positioned ahead of this opportunity, with outstanding quality, choice and value for all customers."
