British Sky Broadcasting strengthened its position as the UK’s largest pay-television operator as greater than expected demand for high-definition television services saw the group add a net 94,000 new customers in the first quarter of its financial year.

That took the customer base to 9.54m, although it also saw investment costs rising as consumers switched to higher-margin HDTV in large numbers. Jeremy Darroch, chief executive, said he expected subscriber numbers to reach 10m next year.