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BSkyB has reported an 86 per cent year-on-year increase in overall product sales during its first quarter of trading.

In a statement today the pay-TV giant confirmed that its product sales hit over 1.2 million in the three months to September 30th.

The company said its adjusted operating profit for the period was £150 million, reflecting "very strong" growth in the number of customers signing up for its Sky+ service, although the figure came in below analyst expectations.

Despite a "competitive" environment BSkyB said it had attracted an additional 83,000 direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers during the three-month period, with the proportion of customers leaving the service falling to 11.3 per cent – the lowest level for five quarters.

BSkyB said its Sky+ service had achieved "record" growth against the previous quarter, with an additional 323,000 households signing up for the facility which allows subscribers to watch TV programmes at times that they select themselves. The 14 per cent increase in the number of consumers signed up to the service brings the total number of Sky+ subscribers to 2.7 million.

The company, which revealed earlier this week that it had passed the one million mark in terms of the number of consumers signed up for its broadband service, also confirmed that the number of subscribers for its Sky Talk phone service had increased by 29 per cent.

Compared to the first quarter of 2006, BSkyB's group revenue increased by 11 per cent to £1.19 billion.

Commenting on the results BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch said the group had continued to see good demand from customers across its product range.

"As expected, our financial performance reflected strong product sales, our investment in high quality programming and a full quarter of investment in Sky Broadband and Talk," he said.

"We expect that performance for the full year will be in line with our plans."