The Walt Disney Company continues to reap the benefits of Frozen, its latest animated feature. For the company’s first fiscal quarter of the fiscal 2014 year, the company posted a 33 percent jump in net income thanks to the new film and Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World.
During the quarter, which ended on Dec. 28, 2013, the studio posted $1.84 billion in net income, up 33 percent over the same quarter for fiscal 2013.
“We had an incredibly strong first quarter, delivering a 32% increase in adjusted earnings per share and double-digit increases in operating income in all business segments,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “These results reflect the strength of our unprecedented portfolio of brands, a constant focus on creativity and innovation, and the continued success of our long-term strategy.”
Overall revenue at the company climbed 9 percent to $12.309 billion. According to the New York Times, this was better than what analysts predicted, as they expected revenues to be at $12.24 billion for Disney.
Disney is the largest entertainment company in the world and is just raking in money from ESPN, Disney Consumer Products and the theme park business. All showed rises in profits, as did Disney Interactive. The struggling video game branch has had a hit with Infinity, but Disney still laid off 200 employees earlier this week.
Walt Disney Studios’ operating income jumped 75 percent to $409 million. The Thor sequel and Frozen were both released during the quarter and have been huge hits. Frozen is still in theaters, even though it was released back on Thanksgiving.
ABC and the local stations Disney owns were the big blemish on Disney’s report. Operating income there dropped 32 percent to $178 million. The issue there is that ABC has not been able to produce a breakout hit show this season. Advertising revenue also took a hit at the local level.
image: Wikimedia Commons
