Sky saw its operating profit jump 26 per cent to £520 million as its customer base moved over the 10 million barrier in the six months to December 31.

The period, which is the first half of Sky’s financial year, saw revenue rise 15 per cent to £3.2 billion.

It was also good news for the broadcaster that average revenue per user (ARPU) in the second quarter rose from £492 during the same period of 2009 to £541.

This is because Sky has successfully upgraded viewers to premier services. For instance, it reported a 68 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of customers signing up for HD – now up to 3.5m.

It also pointed out that 24 per cent of its customers have now signed up for the triple-play option of TV, broadband and telephony – it noted that broadband growth in the second quarter was the fastest for more than two years with 204,000 net additions.

Multiroom, however, did not do so well with 61,000 quarterly net additions compared with 102,000 a year earlier.

Churn, the rate at which viewers leave Sky, also fell slightly from 9.6 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

Chief executive Jeremy Darroch called it an “outstanding” performance “with record product sales and strong double-digit growth in revenue, profit and cash flow”.

Mr Darroch admitted he was cautious about the economic outlook for 2011 although he said he as confident about the long-term opportunities for the company.

Next week the broadcaster is launching Sky Atlantic described as a premium channel offering UK and US shows and available to Sky customers at no extra charge.

Later in the year, Sky Anywhere will be launched to allow customers to view its service wherever they are. To this end, the broadcaster confirmed that it has acquired The Cloud, a public wi-fi network operator although the transaction is still waiting regulatory clearance in Jersey.