BSY

when you look at the ACTUAL results, they were pretty good actually.

LONDON (AFX) - UK satellite TV giant British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC this
morning overcame a marked slowdown in subscriber growth to report in-line fiscal
first-quarter results.
The group said it signed up 57,000 new subscribers to its pay-TV services in
the three months to the end of September, taking its customer base up to 7.8
mln. Growth was at the bottom of end of the 52,000-70,000 forecast range, and
represented a slowdown from the 83,000 new subscribers it added in the previous
quarter.
Still, revenues for the period rose 8 pct to 1.023 bln stg and pretax
profits jumped 14 pct to 200 mln. The consensus forecast called for earnings of
between 192-203 mln stg on revenues of 1.01-1.03 bln
"Sky increased sales to new customers and achieved strong profit growth this
quarter despite facing a challenging competitive environment and continued
economic pressures on consumers," said chief executive James Murdoch.
Despite the tepid subscriber growth figures, James Murdoch said the group
was "on track" to have 8 mln subscribers by the end of 2005, rising to 10 mln by
the end of 2010.
simon.duke@afxnews.com
sd/lam