Sky Deutschland disappoints analysts

Analysts have lowered forecasts for Sky Deutschland in the wake of its disappointing first-quarter results.

Subscriber growth has slowed in the three quarters since the relaunch of the News Corp-backed pay-TV platform with just 1,000 net subscriber additions recorded in the Q1 figures. Landesbank Berlin and Morgan Stanley both lowered forecasts for the company immediately after the results.

The latter noted that recently-installed CEO Brian Sullivan has outlined a strategy to boost growth at Sky, but that it will not have an immediate impact and “the earliest potential good news on subscriber growth won’t be before Q3 when the Bundesliga [soccer] kicks off again”. The investment bank lowered its forecast for 2010 net subscriber additions to 191,000 from earlier expectations of 245,000. “There is still no proof [Sky’s] core pay TV proposition will be sufficiently successful,” Morgan Stanley added.