The media company added 167,000 in the quarter to 8.832 million and added 385,000 in the first half of fiscal 2008. Churn rate in the half was recorded at 10 and average revenue per customer rose 7% to 421 pounds for the year.

Sky+ added 434,000 subscribers with a reach of 3.1 million households and 260,000 customers added broadband internet subscriptions.

The company said that revenue increased by 11% to £2,458 million with operating profit of £295 million was stated after £103 million of investment in Sky Broadband, Sky Talk and Easynet Enterprise, as well as exceptional legal costs of £12 million. Excluding these items, operating profit was £410 million.

Sky+ households exceeded three million with a record 434,000 net additions in the quarter to reach 35% penetration of the base, up four percentage points on the previous quarter. Multiroom households grew by 120,000 in the quarter, now 17% of the base; and Sky HD also showed good growth, increasing by 18% to 422,000, 5% of the base.

1:00PM New York – Rio Tinto rejects revised offer from BHP as inadequate.

Rio Tinto (RTP: chart) board rejected a revised offer from BHP Billiton after saying that it significantly undervalues the underlying assets.

The revised offer from BHP Billiton values Rio Tinto at $147 billion and it offered to exchange 3.4 stocks of BHP for 1 stock of Rio Tinto. The offer, though revised 15% higher, failed to convince management and board to take action.

The BHP (BHP: chart) takeover attempt of Rio Tinto was complicated after Chinalco and Alcoa together acquired 9% stake of the whole company and 12% in the London listed stock. Chinalco and Alcoa are significant customers of iron ore and other minerals mined by Rio. If BHP and Rio merge, customers like Alcoa and Chinalco may face higher prices and a significant dependency on one company for its raw materials.

BHP revised its offer today to meet takeover regulation in the UK.BHP may be forced to revise its offer again or carry out a hostile offer directly to its shareholders.

In New York trading Rio Tinto fell 2% or $9 to $411.76 and BHP fell 4% or $2.83 to close at $66.60.

12:30PM New York – U.S. stocks rebound from the losses at the opening.

After early decline in the U.S. market averages, stocks rebounded on earnings from Disney, Time Warner, BHP Billiton, JDS Uniphase, and Toll Brothers.

BHP Billiton revised its offer for Rio Tinto to $147 billion from $127 billion. The revised offer, delivered on the last day to the UK regulatory requirements sparked another round of speculation of a counter offer from China controlled Aluminum Company of China, also known as Chinalco. Only few days ago Chinalco and Alcoa teamed to buy 9% stake in Rio Tinto and left the door open for a bid for Rio.

Rising Productivity

In the fourth quarter of 2007, productivity increased 0.6% in the business sector, with output increasing 0.2% and hours decreasing 0.5%.

In the nonfarm business sector, productivity rose 1.8% as output grew 0.4% and hours fell 1.5%. When the annual averages for 2007 were compared with annual averages for 2006, productivity rose 1.6% in the business and nonfarm business sectors--slightly more than the 1.0% gain in both sectors from 2005 to 2006.

Time Warner Earnings

Time Warner (TWX: chart) reported fourth quarter earnings and provided outlook for 2008. Time Warner stock (TWX: chart) rose 4.6% or 70 cents to $16.10.

Fourth-quarter revenues were up 2% from a year ago to $12.6 billion on increases at the cable and filmed entertainment segments. Adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization climbed 16% to $3.5 billion, benefiting from increases at the cable, filmed Entertainment, AOL and Publishing segments. Operating Income grew 12% to $2.3 billion.

Diluted earnings per share fell to $0.28 from $0.43 a year ago. The current and prior year amounts included certain items affecting comparability resulting in a decrease of $0.01 per diluted common share and to increase the prior year results by $0.21 per diluted common share.