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Murdoch's BSkyB returns to profit
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Sky Broadcasting, controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has posted a surprise profit for the first-quarter of its financial year as it continued to attract more subscribers than expected after the demise of its main rival. The UK's biggest pay-TV operator made a net income of £100,000 ($158 million) in the three months ended September 30, compared to a loss of £94.8 million, a year ago, the company said on Friday. Sales rose 13 percent to £726.2 million. BSkyB has spent billions on acquiring sport and film rights to attract customers to its digital satellite platform. ITV Digital couldn't keep pace with Murdoch's spending power and collapsed after wasting more than $1 billion belonging to parents, Granda Group and Carlton Communications. The London-based BSkyB (BSY) signed up 217,000 new subscribers in the first quarter bringing the total to 6.3 million subscribers and closing in on its target of 7 million by the end of 2003. "This has been a record-breaking quarter for Sky," said Chief Executive Tony Ball. "These results provide the foundation for continued strong profit growth this year." BSkyB, which is 36 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, has improved its market dominance and is almost unrivalled in Britain after the collapse of ITV Digital. And TV customer numbers are sliding at UK-based cable companies, NTL and Telewest, which have faced cash problems as revenues declined, stock prices fell and debts from ambitious buying sprees mounted. The company joined forces with publicly funded BBC and Crown Castle International to acquire digital terrestrial broadcasting licences previously held by ITV Digital and is now offering free-to-air digital terrestrial services. BSkyB had posted a net loss of £1.3 billion in fiscal 2001 after writing off its stake in Germany's collapsed Kirch Pay-TV at a cost of £984 million. In the first quarter of its fiscal year, it made a pretax profit of £43 million, swinging from a loss of £23 million a year ago. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a first quarter profit of about £34 million.
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