BSkyB has announced an impairment loss of £343 million after it was forced to divest itself of ITV shares in its second half.
The loss was widely expected after UK business secretary John Hutton forced the company to decrease its stake in rival ITV to a level below 7.5 per cent from 17.9 per cent on competition concerns.
The broadcaster, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, has revealed that year-on-year operating profit sloughed off 25 per cent to £295 million in the six months to December 2007.
Earnings per share fell 14 per cent to 9.7p, down from 11.3p the previous year, while year-on-year revenues increased by 11 per cent.
"Despite a challenging backdrop, we continue to grow from strength to strength in line with our targets," a company interim statement said.
Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, said the company made "good progress" during the quarter with year-on-year sales increasing 35 per cent while adding 167,000 new customers.
Mr Darroch also said the company would increase its interim dividend by eight per cent, reflecting the group's confidence for 2008.
BSkyB's share price has climbed 2.69 per cent in early trading, tacking on 14.50p to hit 553.50p just after 10:00 GMT this morning.
Digg 
Delicious 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Google 
Technorati 
Netvouz