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(In the second paragraph, the first sentence has been corrected: operating profit).
BURBANK (dpa-AFX) – American entertainment giant Walt Disney has suffered a big drop in earnings due to the crown pandemic. In the three months to the end of March, the surplus declined more than 90 percent year-over-year to $ 460 million (€ 424 million), as the group announced on Tuesday after the US stock market. USA It closed in Burbank, California. Thanks to the boom in TV and broadcast offerings, revenue increased 21 percent to $ 18 billion.
However, Disney’s amusement parks, resorts, cruises, and fan-only shops in particular suffered greatly from the pandemic: Operating profit here fell 58 percent, though the virus crisis only spread to the end of the quarter. The streaming business with the thriving new Disney + video service has grown tremendously, but has so far caused high costs. The division’s loss of $ 812 million was more than double the previous year.
New Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who took over as longtime corporate director Bob Iger in February, tried to be optimistic. “The Covid 19 pandemic is having a significant impact on several of our businesses,” admitted the senior manager. However, Disney’s leadership is confident that it will weather the crisis well and strengthen. The group had shown enough times that it was “exceptionally tough.”
In the last quarter, Disney’s amusement parks, which are among the company’s main pillars and sources of profit, were the main victims of the Corona crisis. First, international attractions in Asia, for example, had to close, followed by large theme parks in the United States in mid-March. As a result, the high costs are suddenly no longer offset by any noticeable income. After all, Disneyland Shanghai is slated to reopen on May 11, but with clear restrictions. In total, Disney reduced pandemic damage to around $ 1.4 billion in the quarter.
But the film division also groaned under the crisis, as people around the world stayed home, theaters had to close, and the studios had to suspend production work. The division posted eight percent less profit than the previous year, although there had been promising productions earlier in the quarter with “Frozen 2” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” The television and cable business increased revenue, even if troubled sports broadcaster ESPN continues to shrink the division.
Quarterly figures were initially not well received by investors, and stocks reacted after the exchange with significant price losses. Profits were well below market expectations, while revenues were higher than expected. Investors were particularly upset that Disney announced it would suspend semi-annual dividend payments due to the pandemic. The stock has already suffered a lot anyway: the price has dropped 30 percent since the beginning of the year. / Hbr / DP / he
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