Sky Ireland, the pay-TV subsidiary of BSkyB, had 513,000 subscribers in the Republic at the end of September, a net increase of 16,000 during the quarter.

Sky's growth in the Republic has slowed from earlier in the year, when it added 70,000 new subscribers in the first six months.

In a statement the company said it was adding more than 1,000 customers a week in the last quarter.

The figures were released as parent BSkyB announced group revenues of £1.2 billion, up 11 per cent year on year.

First-quarter profit at the UK's biggest pay-television broadcaster dropped 28 per cent, the sixth straight decline, largely due to costs associated with wooing broadband subscribers from Virgin Media.

Net income fell to £84 million or 4.8 pence a share, below analysts' expectations. As a result BSkyB's shares had their largest drop in two years.

Sky has signed up more than one million broadband subscribers in the UK since entering that market in 2006. It has not launched broadband products in the Republic because it does not feel the regulatory or economic environment is right.

Across the UK and the Republic, the total number of Sky's digital satellite subscribers was 8.665 million, a net increase of 83,000 in the quarter.

UPC Ireland, which operates under the Chorus and NTL brands, is Sky's main rival for digital television in the Republic and is due to announce Irish figures later this month.

At the end of June it had 586,200 customers.