Sky’s portfolio of connected products, including its NOW TV and Sky Go Extra services, have helped the company achieve better-than-expected first-quarter profits.
The media giant has reported its final results before it expands into Europe with the purchase of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia.
During its last months as a standalone business, the UK firm signed up 309,000 subscribers to its Sky Go Extra service which allows users to watch programmes on tablets and smartphones when on the move.
It also reported a trebling of NOW TV Sports transactions year on year and said revenue from its Sky Store service, which offers films as buy to keep downloads and pay per view rentals, more than doubled year on year.
Revenue increased 6% to £1.9 billion with adjusted operating profit rising 11% to £316 million.
Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, commented: “The investments that we have made in new connected TV services are delivering growing benefits to our business. We extended our lead as the UK’s largest connected TV platform, surpassing 6 million connected homes.
“Sky Store more than doubled its revenues and our mobile TV service Sky Go Extra achieved a record quarter of growth. The benefits are clear as connected customers watch more TV, spend more with us and are more loyal.
“Three months into the year, we are delivering against a clear strategy for growth in our existing business. At the same time, we are making good progress with our proposed acquisition of Sky Italia and a majority stake in Sky Deutschland.”