BSkyB says confident in independent future

LONDON (Reuters) - Pay-TV operator BSkyB <BSY.L> said it remained confident in its future as a standalone company after major shareholder News Corp <NWSA.O> dropped its bid for the 61 percent of the company it did not already own.

"We are delivering on our clear, consistent strategy and are building a larger, more profitable business for the long term," Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said in a statement. "We remain very confident in the broadly based growth opportunity for BSkyB."

News Corp said earlier on Wednesday it had withdrawn its bid, made over a year ago, because of the furor surrounding the company over a phone hacking scandal at one of its newspapers.

(Created by Kate Holton)