Walt Disney Revenue Boosted by Summer Movies -- Update

By Allison Prang 

Walt Disney Co. reported a 34% jump in revenue in the latest quarter, boosted by the box-office performance of "The Lion King," "Toy Story 4" and "Aladdin."

Shares of Disney rose 4.5% to $139 in after-hours trading Thursday as the company's earnings fell but still beat analysts expectations.

Disney's profit slumped by more than half to $1.05 billion, hurt by a 50% increase in costs and expenses. Excluding certain items, per-share earnings were $1.07 a share, higher than the 94 cents a share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

Total revenue increased to $19.1 billion, slightly missing analysts' consensus estimate. Revenue jumped 22% to $6.5 billion at the company's media networks and 52% to $3.3 billion at its studio entertainment division.

Operating income for Disney's studio entertainment division rose 79%. This year's movies compared with films like the "Ant-Man" and "Incredibles 2" in the year-ago quarter.

Disney's direct-to-consumer and international division reported an operating loss that more than doubled from a year earlier. Disney said that was from investments in Disney+ and ESPN+, along with the consolidation of Hulu.

Disney earlier this year bought various assets from Fox for $71.3 billion as it makes the move into streaming. Disney is launching its Disney+ streaming service next week, adding another media player in the streaming race along with Netflix, HBO and the service in which Disney already owns a large stake, Hulu.

Separately, Amazon.com Inc. reached a deal with Disney to carry its Disney+ streaming-video service on Fire TV devices, according to people familiar with the matter.

In the September quarter, Disney recorded debt-related expenses and higher interest costs tied to its acquisition of the Fox assets. The company also had $314 million in restructuring charges related to integrating those assets, which Disney said were mainly for severance.

Write to Allison Prang at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 07, 2019 17:18 ET (22:18 GMT)

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