Disney's second-quarter profit exceeded expectations, film business revenue surged 40%

Thanks to the popularity of the newly opened Shanghai Disneyland and the strong box office gains of many movies, American media giant Walt Disney's operating income increased in the second quarter of this year, and its profits exceeded Wall Street expectations.

Original title: Shanghai parks and movie box office boost Disney's second-quarter profit exceeded expectations

Thanks to the popularity of the newly opened Shanghai Disneyland and the strong box office of many movies, US media giant Walt Disney's operating income increased in the second quarter of this year, and its profits exceeded Wall Street expectations. The company also announced an agreement to acquire a minority stake in BAMTech, a video streaming company owned by Major League Baseball, for US$1 billion.

On Tuesday, local time, Disney announced that for the third quarter ending July 2 this year:

earnings per share excluding some items were $1.62, higher than analysts 'expectations of $1.61 per share.

Operating income was $14.28 billion, higher than analysts 'estimates of $14.15 billion.

Net income increased 4.8% year-on-year to $2.6 billion, or $1.59 per share.

The financial report showed that Disney's film business revenue increased 40% to US$2.85 billion in the second quarter, and film operating profit surged 62% to US$766 million. Marvel's movie Captain America 3, Pixar's "Finding Nemo 2" and "Zootopia" contributed to the season's blockbuster films.

The following Bloomberg News chart shows Disney Films 'quarterly operating income since the second quarter of 2013.

Disney's theme park and resort revenue increased 6% to US$4.38 billion during the season. Disney said Shanghai Disneyland is already expanding and the occupancy rate of Shanghai Disney Hotel has stabilized at 95%. Disney CEO Robert Iger said that Shanghai Disneyland has received 1 million tourists so far.

Profit growth for Disney's overseas theme parks was weak due to increased pre-opening investment costs in Shanghai Park and Paris Park costs. However, driven by the performance of domestic parks in the United States, operating income of Disney's business still increased by 7.8%.

The second-quarter profit growth of Disney's largest business, the cable TV business, which Wall Street is focusing on, fell further. Last year Disney has admitted a decline in subscribers to its limited TV ESPN and Disney Channel. Profit for ABC Television Group and its TV stations fell 6% to $282 million. Cable TV's operating profit rose 1% to US$2.09 billion, driven by growth in ESPN's advertising revenue and related revenue.

Also on Tuesday, Disney announced the acquisition of a 33% stake in BAMTech, which will be independent of MLB Advanced Media, a digital business arm of Major League Baseball. Disney has the right to increase its stake in BAMTech in the next few years and owns a majority stake in it.

Under the equity purchase agreement, BAMTech will become an important partner of Disney, helping to deliver and support Disney, ABC and ESPN's video and other digital products. Disney will launch ESPN's newly-branded multi-sports event DTC (direct-to-consumer) service.

Disney's share price has fallen about 9% so far this year. It closed up 0.96% on Tuesday and fell 1.8% in after-hours trading after the release of earnings.

Editor: Nancy