Walt Disney Posts Record Annual Profit--Update
09 November 2018 - 09:04AM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Walt Disney Co. turned in a strong financial performance in the
latest period, as its parks-and-resorts and studio-entertainment
segments helped it deliver record profit and revenue for the
year.
Disney, best known for traditional film and television
entertainment, has outlined a high-stakes plan focusing on
direct-to-consumer offerings to fight back against streaming giants
like Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
Part of that plan, Chief Executive Robert Iger has said, will be
folding in 21st Century Fox Inc.'s entertainment assets, including
Fox's storied film and television studios.
Disney would essentially control three digital services: ESPN
Plus for sports; Hulu, currently a joint venture of Disney, Fox,
Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal and AT&T Inc.'s WarnerMedia; and a
Disney-branded service, set to launch in late 2019.
For its fiscal year ended in September, Disney reported a profit
of $12.6 billion on $59.43 billion in revenue, compared with a
profit of $8.98 billion and $55.14 billion in revenue a year
earlier.
Overall, fourth-quarter profit rose 33% to $2.32 billion, or
$1.55 a share. Meanwhile, revenue rose 12% to $14.31 billion.
Excluding one-time items, Disney earned $1.48 a share.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $1.34 a share in adjusted
profit on $13.73 billion in revenue.
Disney shares, which have outperformed the market with a 15%
increase over the past 12 months, rose 1.7% to $118 in after-hours
trading Thursday.
In the latest period, the company's parks-and-resorts operating
profit rose 11% and revenue increased 9%. The studio-entertainment
segment reported a 50% increase in revenue while operating profit
more than doubled, helped by the release of films such as
"Incredibles 2" and "Ant-Man and the Wasp."
Media networks, Disney's largest segment by revenue and home to
its cable networks and broadcast operations, saw operating profit
increase 4% and revenue rise 9% to $5.47 billion.
Corporate expenses rose due to the Fox deal and higher
compensation costs, Disney said.
The Fox deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
Fox and News Corp, parent company of The Wall Street Journal,
share common ownership.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2018 16:49 ET (21:49 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Fox (NASDAQ:FOX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Fox (NASDAQ:FOX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024