7 Dec 2021

Sky cuts costs as sport and entertainment rights rise in price

12:01 pm on 7 December 2021

The pay television operator Sky has lifted its profit guidance after cutting operating and capital costs, while improving revenue.

Sky TV generic

Photo: Supplied / Richard Parsonson

Key numbers for full year ending June 2022

  • Revised guidance Previous guidance
  • Net profit $40m to $48m $17.5m to $27.5m
  • Underlying profit $150m to $160m $115m to $130m
  • Revenue $725m to $745m $715m to $745m
  • Capex $45m to $50m $50m - $60m

"Our firm strategic focus is on growing revenues and reducing operating costs, particularly against the background of the step-up in rights costs to secure the sports and entertainment content that matters to our customers," Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney said.

"The identified cost savings in FY22 are focused on areas of third party spend across the business, including our vendors and contractors, our rights, how we produce and market our content, and our capex profile."

The company's operating costs were expected to result in an additional $35m of savings this financial year, including $26m of recurring cost reductions and $9m of one-off savings.

The full year impact of recurring annualised cost savings would deliver an additional savings of $40m to $45m a year, with further savings expected for the following 2023 financial year.

Moloney said the sale of Sky's Mt Wellington properties in Auckland was also progressing well but not yet finalised and therefore not included in guidance, with an announcement expected to be made shortly.

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