Sky Earnings Beat Forecasts

By Simon Zekaria

LONDON--Sky PLC (SKY.LN) on Wednesday sounded an upbeat note as it reported a forecast-beating rise in quarterly earnings on higher revenue, boosted by its operations in the U.K. and Germany, as well as cost-cutting.

The pay-television giant, Europe's biggest pay-TV operator by customer numbers, said operating profit before exceptional items--a closely watched measurement of Sky's main business performance--rose 10% year-over-year to 375 million pounds ($579 million), higher than a consensus market forecast of GBP366 million. It didn't disclose net profit.

Revenue rose 6% to GBP2.79 billion, in line with a forecast of GBP2.78 billion.

The number of products its customers use, including broadband services and high-definition TV, jumped 937,000. It also added 134,000 customers in the quarter.

"We have made a strong start to the year," said Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch.

Sky is 39%-owned by 21st Century Fox Inc. (FOXA), which until June 2013 was part of the same company as The Wall Street Journal parent, News Corp. (NWS.AU).

Shares closed Tuesday at 1,069 pence.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2015 02:32 ET (06:32 GMT)

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