The company says it added nearly one million customers during the 12 months that ended on 30 June.

Sky unveiled several original dramas during the period, including Fortitude and 1999.

The company also said a record 3.1 million in the UK and Ireland watched the Game of Thrones finale in April.

"Across the portfolio, we've secured a series of big rights deals and made exciting progress in our push into original content," said Jeremy Darroch, Sky's group chief executive.

"We've successfully completed a deal that has transformed the size and scale of opportunity for the business whilst delivering an excellent financial and operational performance as more customers chose Sky and took more of our products."

Together with BT Sport, Sky paid £5.1bn in February for premier league football coverage for three seasons from 2016-17.