As a regular follower of moneyam I know this bulletin board loves small shares but please consider BSkyB as it will launch a free-to-air service later this year, which will compete with Freeview. For a one off 150 you will be able to gain access to alomst 200 digital channels and have access to pay per view events with no monthly subscription. 27% of the population cannot get Freeview due to weak transmission and with only 43% population with sattelite or cable there is massive growth potential. (Shares June2004)
BSkyB"s recent figures showed subscriber numbers were 19000 down on expectations of 100000 for the last 3 months, but pre tax profits quadrupled. Expenditure of around 450m will be needed in the next 4 years to support growth.
At the current price of 485p on a PE of 16 the shares are sitting near their yearly low, I recently bought 514p and would aprreciate other peoples views, has this recent sell off been overdone ?

keep shorting

just bought in when do they go ex div please.

closed my short today

who are they going to buy.

who are they going to buy.

one tel

how much will news corp pay to buy this out

looking at pxc.

Daniel Stewart cut its price target for shares in BSkyB (BSY) to 402p from 490p and reiterated its 'sell' recommendation in anticipation of the broadcaster's full year results, due on 31 July. "There are concerns that reduced activity in the housing market has resulted in reduced demand broadband takeup (as described by Carphone Warehouse), and we do not see Sky as immune from this trend," it commented. "Similarly, concerns that BT Group will (following Ofcom's Consultation) raise unbundled broadband access prices should affect BSkyB as others." It added that the shares look expensive on a rating of around 16 for 2008 and that, with a presence in roughly one third of UK homes, it finds it difficult to see how Sky can avoid the impact of pressure on household spending

Just for cynic :-)

Half Yearly Report (British Sky Broad)





TIDMBSY

RNS Number : 3530M
British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC
28 January 2009

?
BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP PLC
Results for the half year ended 31 December 2008




Strong Performance in a Tough Environment



Continued growth in home entertainment and communications
* Net customer growth of 171,000 in the second quarter, (prior year 167,000),
taking the total customer base to 9.24 million
* Churn reduced to 9.9%, benefiting from strong take-up of additional products
* Over 50% of customers now take Sky+ or Sky+HD; sales of both products
accelerated sharply during the quarter
* Strengthened on-screen offering, with 17 new HD channels and important rights
renewals in sports, movies and entertainment
* The UK's fastest growing broadband provider with 1.96 million Sky Broadband
customers
* Fastest growing home telephony service in the UK with 1.50 million Sky Talk
customers



Delivered a strong financial performance for the first six months
* Increased rate of customer growth and record ARPU, delivering 6% increase in
revenue to GBP2.6 billion
* Good cost control helped to increase adjusted operating margin by 2.4 percentage
points to 14.9% of sales
* Adjusted operating profit up by 26% to GBP388 million1; reported operating
profit up by 31% to GBP385 million
* Adjusted basic EPS growth of 34% to 13.0 pence1; basic EPS of 9.5 pence, up by
15.9 pence
* Interim dividend increased by 5% to 7.5 pence per share



2009: Investing through the economic downturn to take advantage of growth
opportunities


* Extend leadership in TV through focused additional investment in HD growth

- Sky+HD set-top box price reduced to GBP49 from 28 January 2009
- Creating around 1,000 jobs to support growth
* Continue to grow in broadband and telephony
* Maintain focus on efficiency and cost reduction to enhance returns



Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, said:


"In a very challenging economic environment, we have delivered a great set of
results by focusing on quality, value and service for our customers. Overall
customer growth is up year on year and we are selling more products across the
board, including record growth in Sky+HD.
"Good cost control has allowed us to turn our operational performance into very
strong financial results, with 6% growth in revenue, 26% growth in operating
profit and 34% growth in earnings per share.


"These results are only possible because of the hard work and dedication of the
great team of people we have right across Sky.


"We enter 2009 in a strong position. Against a very difficult and uncertain
economic backdrop, we will continue to focus our efforts on providing customers
with more of what they want: the very best of entertainment and home
communications at great value, backed up by great service.


"Today we are announcing plans to make high definition more accessible to
everyone. We will continue to build our broadband and home telephony businesses,
helping even more Sky customers to save money on their household bills.


"We will build on our Bigger Picture commitment to make the arts more
accessible, encourage participation in sport and help tackle climate change. And
we will continue to focus on the efficiency of our operations.


"Delivering on these plans will create a stronger and more profitable business
for the benefit of customers, shareholders and colleagues alike."


1See page 3 for financial highlights and reconciliation of non-GAAP measures and
page 16 for definition of terms.

Results highlights




Customer Metrics (unaudited)


+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| '000s | 31-Dec-08 | 30-Sept-08 | Change |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Total customers | 9,238 | 9,067 | 171 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Additional products | | | |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Sky+ | 4,650 | 4,135 | 515 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Multiroom | 1,723 | 1,655 | 68 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Sky+HD | 779 | 591 | 188 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Broadband | 1,955 | 1,792 | 163 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Telephony | 1,500 | 1,361 | 139 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Other KPIs | | | |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| Churn for the | 9.9% | 10.9% | -1.0% |
| quarter | | | |
| (annualised) | | | |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+
| ARPU | GBP444 | GBP430 | +GBP14 |
+------------------------------+--------------+----------------+------------+


Financial Summary (unaudited)


+---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--+--------------+------------+
| GBP'millions | 6 months to Dec-08 | 6 months to | % movement |
| | | Dec-07 | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Revenue | 2,601 | 2,458 | 6% |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Reported operating profit | 385 | 295 | 31% |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Adjusted operating | 388 | 307 | 26% |
| profit(1) | | | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| % Adjusted Operating | 14.9% | 12.5% | |
| Profit Margin | | | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Profit/(loss) for the | 166 | (112) | n/m |
| period | | | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Adjusted profit for the | 226 | 170 | 33% |
| period(2) | | | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| | | | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| EBITDA | 522 | 415 | 26% |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Cash generated from | 588 | 429 | 37% |
| operations | | | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Net debt(3) | 1,642 | 1,973 | -17% |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| | | | | |
+---------------------------+-----------------+-----------+--------------+------------+
| Per share information | 6 months to Dec-08 | 6 months to | % movement |
| (pence) | | Dec-07 | |
+---------------------------+--------------------------+-----------------+------------+
| Adjusted basic earnings per | 13.0 | | 9.7 | 34% |
| share(2) | | | | |
+------------------------------------+-----------------+--+--------------+------------+
| Basic earnings/(loss) per share | 9.5 | | (6.4) | n/m |
+---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--+--------------+------------+


1 Adjusted operating profit in the six months to 31 December 2008 stated before
EDS legal costs of GBP3 million (2008: GBP12 million)
2 Adjusted profit for the period excludes GBP3 million EDS legal costs (2008:
GBP12 million), an impairment of GBP59 million relating to the Group's
investment in ITV (2008: GBP343 million), an adjustment of GBP6 million relating
to a deferred tax write-off following a change in law in the period in respect
of industrial building allowances (2008: nil), GBP11 million relating to
mark-to-market gains of derivative financial instruments that do not qualify for
hedge accounting (2008: GBP4 million gain) and related tax effects. Adjusted
profit for the six months to 31 December 2007 also excludes GBP67 million gain
relating to an exchange transaction for National Geographic.
3 Net debt is defined as cash and cash-equivalents (GBP1,088 million),
short-term deposits (GBP165 million) and borrowings related financial
instruments (GBP616 million) net of borrowings (GBP3,511 million).

Results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2009

BSkyB reports double-digit growth

Chairman's Statement.

RNS Number : 2461G
British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC
28 January 2010

?
BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP PLC
Results for the half year ended 31 December 2009
GOOD SECOND QUARTER COMPLETES A STRONG FIRST HALF
Strong demand across the board in the second quarter
* Good progress on both legs of growth - adding more customers and selling more
products
- 172,000 net additions takes the total customer base to 9.7 million -
One million net subscription product sales, up 36%

* Sky+HD surpasses two million households with net additions more than double the
prior year at 482,000
* 18% of customers now take TV, broadband and telephony

More innovation for customers in 2010
* Bringing more high quality content and HD channels to customers
* Switching to selling HD-enabled set-top boxes as standard
* Launching Europe's first dedicated 3D TV channel

Strong financial performance in the first half
* Total revenue up by 10% to GBP2.9 billion
* Absorbed the cost of strong demand to deliver 4% growth in operating profit to
GBP401 million
* Strong financial progress in broadband and telephony
* Free cash flow up 5% to GBP290 million1
* Adjusted basic EPS of 14.47 pence1 up 11%; reported basic EPS of 14.70 pence up
54%
* Interim dividend increased by 5% to 7.875 pence per share

Pretty impressive numbers skinny! My short got blown out of the water -15 :-((((

Bad Luck Chris - it was on my list, but after the last couple of days, I decided I had enough open. I guess with more people staying in due to money constraints, a move to the upside was more likely.

Ofcom orders Sky to slash wholesale prices
Business Financial Newswire
Sky must offer to supply Sky Sports 1 and 2 to other retailers for example, cable, terrestrial and IPTV at a wholesale price set by Ofcom.

BSkyB said it will launch a legal challenge against the ruling.

Ofcom has set a wholesale price of 10.63 for each of Sky Sports 1 and 2, when sold on a standalone basis, which is 23.4% below the current wholesale price to cable operators.

Most consumers currently buy packages which include Sky Sports 1 and 2 and the wholesale price for this service bundle has been reduced by 10.5% to 17.14.

Ofcom has given conditional approval to Sky and Arqivas request to offer pay TV services on digital terrestrial TV (known as Picnic).

Approval of Picnic is subject to Sky implementing a wholesale deal under the supply obligation for Sky Sports 1 and 2. In addition, if Sky decides to offer movie channels on digital terrestrial TV then those channels must also be offered to other digital terrestrial TV operators.

Ofcom is consulting on its proposed decision to make a reference to the Competition Commission asking the Commission to address concerns regarding the sale and distribution of subscription video-on-demand premium movie rights (but which cannot be addressed fully using Ofcoms powers).

Sky must offer to wholesale high-definition versions of Sky Sports 1 and 2. HD is a relatively new innovation. To help to promote future innovation Ofcom has not set wholesale prices for the HD channels but requires them to be offered on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

3rd quarter results.

Continued Strong Customer Growth in the Quarter

Third quarter net customer growth of 62,000 to reach 9.770 million households

Success in our multi-product strategy with ARPU up 11%; net additional subscription product sales of 878,000

Strong response from customers to new Sky+HD box price with 428,000 net HD additions

1.9 million customers taking all three of TV, broadband and telephony, up 39%



Accelerating Financial Performance - Double-Digit Growth in Revenue and Earnings

Total revenue up 10%; adjusted revenue up 11% to 4,383 million

Adjusted operating profit up by 5% to 618 million, despite upfront cost of strong demand for HD; reported operating profit of 645 million up 4%

Adjusted basic EPS growth of 16% to 22.3 pence; basic EPS of 31.1 pence

Strong growth in free cash flow, up 17% to 310 million

NEWS CORPORATION PROPOSES TO THE BOARD OF BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP PLC
A CASH OFFER OF 700 PENCE PER SHARE FOR THE BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING GROUP PLC
SHARES IT DOES NOT ALREADY OWN

BSkyB: News Corp Bid Undervalues Co, Seeks 800P/Share Bid
LONDON (Dow Jones)

British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.LN) said Tuesday it considers the terms of the proposal from News Corporation (NWS) to undervalue significantly BSkyB, adding that it wont' recommend an offer if it were made at 700 pence per share but would be prepared to support a bid in excess of 800 pence.