Disney lifts subscriber numbers to almost 138 mln in Q2, . Streaming revenues (direct-to-consumer) advanced 23 percent to USD 4.9 billion

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Disney lifts subscriber numbers to almost 138 mln in Q2

NEWS BROADBAND GLOBAL 09:49 BOOKMARK

Disney reported higher revenues but lower profit figures for its fiscal second quarter, to end 2 April hurt by stronger losses at Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, plus a lower operating profit at Hulu. The company said the lower results come from higher programming and production, marketing and technology costs, partially offset by an increase in subscriber numbers and in retail pricing. Disney said it brought in more customers in existing markets as well as new ones, but that this growth was accompanied by higher costs. Lower results at ESPN+ also came from a decrease in income from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFX) pay-per-view events. 

Disney ended the quarter with 137.7 million paying subscribers for Disney+, up 33 percent year-on-year, and against the nearly 130 million recorded at the end of the previous quarter. Growth was particularly strong outside of North America, with international subscribers up 39 percent year-on-year to 43.2 million and Disney+ Hotstar lifting 42 percent to 50.1 million. At ESPN+, subscriber numbers jumped 62 percent to 22.3 million, against 21.3 million in the previous quarter. Hulu ended March with 45.6 million subscribers, up 10 percent from the year before and against 45.3 million in Q1. 

ARPUs rose across the board, lifting 5 percent for domestic users to USD 6.32, 24 percent for international users to USD 6.35, 13 percent, and 55 percent for Disney+ Hotstar to USD 0.76. Global Disney+ ARPU went up 9 percent to USD 4.35. At ESPN, ARPU went 4 percent higher to USD 4.73 while at Hulu, it rose 6 percent to USD 12.77 for SVOD only, and 8 percent to USD 88.77 for Live TV +SVOD.

Group revenues improved by 23 percent to USD 19.2 billion, with entertainment revenue up 9 percent to USD 13.6 billion and revenue from parks doubling to USD 6.6 billion. Streaming revenues (direct-to-consumer) advanced 23 percent to USD 4.9 billion. The group operating profit from continuing operations slipped 10 percent to USD 1.1 billion, with entertainment falling 32 percent to USD 1.9 billion. The group net profit from continuing operations dropped 48 percent to USD 470 million. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations halved to USD 0.26 from 0.50, but adjusted diluted EPS went higher to USD 1.08 from 0.79.

The operating cash flow improved by 27 percent to almost 1.8 billion while the free cash flow strengthened 10 percent to US D686 million. 

 

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