Sky suffers £12m profit drop

The pay-TV operator said that the number of its retail customers grew by 205,000, for the three months to 31 December - its highest second quarter performance in a decade.

Revenue at the company grew by 5% to £5.7bn for the second half of 2015, with operating profit rising 12% from £667m to £747m. However, Sky suffered a £12m drop in pre-tax profits to £524m over the same period.

During its results, the pay-TV broadcaster revealed that it has over 100 original dramas in development or production across the UK, Germany and Italy and highlighted the growth of its international distribution division Sky Vision. Sky Atlantic’s Arctic crime drama Fortitude had been sold into 120 territories, while forthcoming Jude Law-fronted drama The Young Pope [pictured] has been pre-sold into 80 territories.

Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: “We have had another very strong half as we continue to transform Sky, broadening our business and expanding into new markets and customer segments. This strategy is delivering today and opening up significant growth opportunities for the future.”

New Now TV

Separately, Sky is ramping up its OTT service Now TV with the launch of a new set-top box that offers free-to-air channels.

It has worked with Roku on the “smart” box, which will launch later this year and will bring together Now TV’s range of premium channels with over 60 linear, free-to-air channels.

From February, existing Now TV customers will benefit from a revamped EPG - giving them more editorial curation and recommendations.

Now TV director Gidon Katz said that this would make it “easier than ever” for customers to quickly find their favourite shows.

“When the new Now TV Smart Box arrives later this year, it will be the perfect one-stop box to get a contract-free, flexible way of watching the best of pay TV and free-to-air content all in one place,” he added.