Sky shares hit high as losses fall

By SIMON HENDERY

Sky TV's shares touched a 22-month high yesterday after it reported a smaller-than-expected half-year loss and said it was set to make money by the end of next year.

The shares hit $4.33 before falling back to close up 10c at $4.30.

Its parent company, media group INL, turned in a steady result as it reaped the tax benefits of Sky's losses.

Sky, which has an effective monopoly on the pay-television market, notched up a bottom-line loss of $13.2 million for the six months to December 31. The result was a healthy improvement on the $19.6 million it lost in the same period last year, and was better than analysts' forecasts of a $14 million to $16.6 million loss.

Sky's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - an eagerly watched indicator while the company remains in growth mode - were up 44 per cent to $52.1 million.

Sky added 12,000 subscribers during the second half of last year and, after adding TelstraClear viewers to its numbers this year, has more than 476,000 customers.

TelstraClear's 26,000 pay-TV subscribers in Wellington and Christchurch began receiving Sky's programming this month, effectively making Sky the only major pay TV operator in the country.

Meanwhile, INL, which last year raised its stake in Sky from 47 per cent to 66 per cent, reported a 94 per cent increase in half-year profit to $27.1 million.

The result includes a consolidation of Sky's business for the first time.

As a result, INL's six-month tax bill was slashed from $12.6 million to $900,000.