Satellite television and media group BSkyB has signed up 37,000 Irish subscribers over the past year, an increase of 13% per annum. According to a spokesman, this means that one in four Irish households now receive Sky services. Internationally, however, the company's rate of expansion is slowing, with its latest quarterly results provoking a slide in share prices in London as new subscriptions failed to reach the necessary targets.

Things were rather different at NTL Ireland, which last week reported a profits hike of 13.8%, to €9.1m, for the three months ending June. The Irish subsidiary of the Nasdaq-listed cable and telecoms group also said that revenues grew 2.7% to €26.9m on a year-on-year basis. Apparently NTL Ireland's core customer base remained basically unchanged, at 341,200 cable and 82,200 digital subscribers; the improved figures were generated through better margins, reduced debt charges and other operating efficiencies.

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