Disney Q2 earnings dive 90 per cent as crisis hits parks and cruises

The Walt Disney Company on Tuesday reported a 90-per-cent drop in profit to 460 million dollars in the second quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic, while also announcing it will begin reopening its parks.

The crisis has disrupted the US media and entertainment giant’s highly-profitable theme parks and cruise businesses.

The company estimated that the closure of its parks for much of the year so far has cost it some 1 billion dollars in profit in just that division.

Disney reported a 58-per-cent drop in operating income for the parks, experiences and products segment compared to the same quarter last year.

The company has begun looking towards reopening its parks, announcing that Shanghai Disneyland is to reopen to the public next Monday, with limited attendance, social distancing measures and more disinfection to stem the spread of the virus.

One bright spot in the earnings report was the Disney+ streaming service, which was rolled out in November in the US and to Britain and other parts of Europe last month.

The company said the service had 54.5 million subscribers as of May 4, as home-bound consumers devour streaming media.

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Thanks to its booming TV and streaming services, overall Disney revenue rose 21 per cent to 18 billion.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has had an appreciable financial impact on a number of our businesses, we are confident in our ability to withstand this disruption and emerge from it in a strong
position,” chief executive Bob Chapek said in a press release. (dpa)