Sky Deutschland bullish on growth, moves into profit

Sky Deutschland said it expects subscriber growth of 400,000 to 450,000 people this year and a “strong increase in total revenues” after reporting positive full year EBITDA for the first time in 2013.

Announcing its preliminary full year and Q4 2013 results, the German satellite TV operator described 2013 as a “milestone year” for Sky, delivering full year EBITDA of €35 million – compared to negative €51 million in 2012.

Sky attributed the results to “continued customer growth” and rising average revenue per customer (ARPU), which grew to a new high in Q4 2013 of €34.56, up €1.79 year-on-year. Revenues were up 16% year-on-year to €1.55 million.

“We have delivered on our promise and achieved our first positive full year EBITDA. This is an important milestone for Sky, reflecting the excellent progress we are making,” said Sky CEO Brian Sullivan (pictured).

“High-quality exclusive programming and outstanding products and services are driving top customer satisfaction levels and continued growth. We have even more exciting plans for this year and expect a significant acceleration of net growth while maintaining a strong increase in revenues and EBITDA. 2013 has been a great year, and 2014 will be even better.”

In 2013, Sky said that its total subscriber base across all service grew by 304,000 people, reaching 3.67 million customers by the end of the year.

Strong customer satisfaction and the expansion of Sky’s entertainment offering helped to drive improvements in customer loyalty, the company said.

Sky+, Sky Premium HD, second smartcard and wholesale subscriber numbers were all up, while churn lowered to 11.2% compared to 11.8% in 2012. Overall

The number of customer sessions recorded for Sky Deutschland’s online and catch-up service, Sky Go, also increased by 109% year-on-year to 70 million. The service now includes dual language option and Sky said it has “exciting new features planned for 2014.”

“For 2014 Sky expects subscriber net growth of 400k to 450k, and full year EBITDA in the range of €70 million to €90 million, supported by a continued strong increase in total revenues,” said Sky.