Rachel_Sandford
News Hound
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2011
- Messages
- 198
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
BSkyB, one of the UK's largest pay-TV broadcasters, is expected to announce their quarterly results on Wednesday, and analysts at Nomura Securities expect them to announce an over 80% shut down in new-subscriber growth. The company has managed to stay strong despite the economic crisis, as most customers have chosen to keep their pay-TV subscriptions.
Analysts have predicted that only around 15,000 have signed up between July and September, significantly less than the 96,000 that signed up during the same time last year. The HD service is also expected to be down by 60%, while their broadband service is thought to be down by about 40% to only 100,000. According to Mark Braley and Laurie Davison of Deutsche Bank, these figures mean that BSkyB's increase or subscriber growth is in the area 2.6%.
So it seems that the company is finally feeling the effects of the economy. Chief executive, Jeremy Darroch has miraculously been able to keep BSkyB growing as the company continues to sell products and has around 10.26million subscribers, but given the situation of the economy, it was really only a matter of time before they started reporting numbers like this. On the bright side, however, the company's pre-tax profit is predicted to be up more than 20% when compared to the same quarter of last year, at £281million for the quarter.
Apart from the losses in new-subscriber growth, the company also still faces the issue of the phone hacking scandal that resulted in the closing of News of the World. Former chairman of News International, James Murdoch, is the current chairman of BSkyB and this November he is set to appear before MPs investigating the scandal. Shareholders have asked him to step down as chairman of BSkyB, but the company has asked them to reserve judgment till after investigations have been made.
Analysts have predicted that only around 15,000 have signed up between July and September, significantly less than the 96,000 that signed up during the same time last year. The HD service is also expected to be down by 60%, while their broadband service is thought to be down by about 40% to only 100,000. According to Mark Braley and Laurie Davison of Deutsche Bank, these figures mean that BSkyB's increase or subscriber growth is in the area 2.6%.
So it seems that the company is finally feeling the effects of the economy. Chief executive, Jeremy Darroch has miraculously been able to keep BSkyB growing as the company continues to sell products and has around 10.26million subscribers, but given the situation of the economy, it was really only a matter of time before they started reporting numbers like this. On the bright side, however, the company's pre-tax profit is predicted to be up more than 20% when compared to the same quarter of last year, at £281million for the quarter.
Apart from the losses in new-subscriber growth, the company also still faces the issue of the phone hacking scandal that resulted in the closing of News of the World. Former chairman of News International, James Murdoch, is the current chairman of BSkyB and this November he is set to appear before MPs investigating the scandal. Shareholders have asked him to step down as chairman of BSkyB, but the company has asked them to reserve judgment till after investigations have been made.