Sky Deutschland turns in strong quarter, confirms targets

Sky Deutschland has turned in a strong second-quarter operating performance and confirmed its financial targets for the end of this year.

The German pay TV operator added 47,100 net new subscribers by the end of the second quarter, taking its overall customer base to 3.132 million, up 14% year-on-year. The operator saw especially strong growth for its Sky Plus HD service, which now has 584,000 subscribers, up 403% year-on-year, while Sky Premium HD customers were up 64% to 1.172 million. The Sky Go TV everywhere service saw 6.9 million customer logins in the second quarter. Homes with two smartcards grew by 166% to 248,300. Churn fell year-on-year from 12.4% to 11.5%.

Sky has announced plans to enhance the Sky Plus service with remote recording and a 2TB hard disk option.
Sky turned in positive EBITDA of €23 million, compared with negative EBITDA of €23.4 million last year and confirmed that it expected positive full-year EBITDA next year. Revenues were up by 18% to €326.7 million, with ARPU up €1.47 to €32.16.

“This has been an important quarter for Sky. We have achieved a number of major milestones across the business, including long term agreements with key studios and sports rights partners, as well as the first positive EBITDA under the Sky brand,” said CEO Brian Sullivan. “Demand for Sky’s expanded range of products and services is accelerating as our absolute focus on customers delivers the high-quality content, leading innovations and top service they deserve. While there is still more to do, both the momentum in our business and the potential in the market are stronger than ever.”