BBC Worldwide chief executive Tim Davie believes Australia will remain a growth market for the British broadcaster as it seeks to exploit popular content such as Sherlock, and delves further into live events such as the Doctor Who Festival. 
The Australia and New Zealand division of BBC Worldwide reported Â£19.2 million ($33.1 million) in profit for the 12 months ended   March 31, up from Â£16.3 million in the previous year. Headline sales fell slightly to Â£79.1 million from Â£81.9 million in the previous 12 months. However, sales increased 5.3 per cent in Australian currency.
Mr Davie told The Australian Financial Review that the growth of digital players, including Fetch and Stan, which is 50 per cent owned by Fairfax Media, and partnerships with pay TV provider Foxtel helped drive the result.
The highly anticipated Sherlock television special, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride was the first premium BBC drama sale in Australia to a subscription video on-demand service. The BBC has content and channel deals with Foxtel, Fetch, Stan and Presto.
Asked whether the BBC was considered a direct-to-consumer streaming service in Australia, Mr Davie said regions would be looked at on a case-by-case basis, but there was nothing to announce at this stage locally.
"From a worldwide perspective, we have announced in the US we will be piloting an over the top service ... you'll be unlikely to see a major global launch," Mr Davie said.
BBC America is 50.1 per cent owned by the BBC and 49.9 per cent owned by US TV network AMC.
Mr Davie also said that live events, such as the Doctor Who Festival and tours such as that by wildlife presenter Steve Backshall, were performing strongly in Australia for the BBC.
"Far from seeing Australia as a mature market, we see it as a growth market," Mr Davie said. "The key thing about the BBC in Australia is our degree of cultural connection ... we've been really focused on the very highest-quality television. The one thing that continues to cut through is quality."
Mr Davie said its production partnership with Fremantle Media Australia and the licensing of its formats, such as You're Back in the Room for the Nine Network and The Great Australian Bake Off for Lifestyle Food, have also been a success.
BBC Worldwide ANZ managing director Jon Penn said: "Our healthy growth has contributed to a positive global story for the company this year and can be attributed to strong established partnerships, a proliferation of new ventures, and the continued quality and breadth of our channel and content sales businesses in this region."
Overall, BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm outside Britain, reported an annual headline profit of Â£133.8 million, down from Â£138.6 million in the previous year. However this was affected by the partial sale of BBC America to AMC. Adjusting for the change in BBC America ownership, profit was up 4 per cent.
Key points
The Australia and NZ arm of BBC Worldwide reported $33.1 million in yearly profit.
Sales increased 5.3 per cent in Australian currency.