BSkyB says 2002 revenues could be flat

LONDON - BSkyB shares were falling this morning after the satellite television company said it expects advertising revenues for the 12 months to June 30 2002 to be flat as a result of the ad downturn.

The comments led to Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock to 'market outperformer' from 'recommended list' and they were trading down 0.8% at 927.5p.



However, BSkyB said that it would not be hit as hard as other broadcasters because it also relies on subscriptions for revenues.



This confidence was reflected by Goldmans, which retained a broadly upbeat outlook on the company saying that the stock has traded at a healthy premium in the hard hit media sector.



Speaking at the UBS Warburg media conference in New York yesterday, Sky chief financial officer Martin Stewart also said that the satellite operator hoped to reduce the cost of signing up each subscriber from £237 to its target of £235 a customer.



BSkyB is the leading digital broadcaster in the UK with 5.5m subscribers. It derives two-thirds of its revenues from subscribers and just 12% from advertising.



Stewart said: "The fiscal year's advertising revenues will be around the total for the fiscal year ending June 2001. That's a different number than we anticipated when we originally did our budget.



"Clearly we have been affected by the downturn but we have been affected proportionately less than other media companies."



Shares in BSkyB have soared over the last week, adding 54p in yesterday's trading alone, to close at 935.9p.



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