Sky saw its group revenue rise 7 percent in its first quarter, as new customers across drive growth and the launch of Sky Mobile approaches.
The company’s UK and Ireland operations saw a 5 percent rise in revenue, while the Germany and Austria division and Italy division saw 9 percent and 13 percent constant currency rises. Group revenues for the quarter were £3.148 billion.
Sky saw 106,000 customers added in the quarter. The UK and Ireland market saw 35,000 new additions.
The company’s advertising revenues were down 3 percent in the UK, while transactional revenues which were up by a third.
Operating costs at the communications provider were down 2 percent on the previous year.
Overall, Sky said that it was on track for its financial expectations for the year.
Sky noted the upcoming launch of Sky Mobile in the UK, which it called “another major product offering” that would give customers “the opportunity to take even more from a brand known for great customer service and quality products.”
Sky confirmed a number of “final readiness milestones” achieved for the upcoming launch of the MVNO, including completing the first live calls, SMS and data session, provisioning SIMs and concluding international roaming agreements.
BT completed its £12.5 billion acquisition of EE this year, giving it control of the UK’s biggest mobile operator.
It has also been pushing into Sky’s traditional home ground in pay-TV, winning the rights to high value programming such as the Champions League.
Sky is expected to launch its own mobile offering this year, meaning that Sky will be able to offer potentially lucrative ‘quad-play’ packages of broadband, fixed line, TV and mobile.
Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, commented: “I’m pleased with the start we have made to the year, with like-for-like revenue growth of over 5% and more than 100,000 new customers joining Sky. We finished the quarter strongly after a slower start against the backdrop of the Rio Olympics and UEFA Euro 2016.”
