The Walt Disney Company reported their earnings today for the first quarter (Q3) of fiscal year 2015 which ended on June 27, 2015. According to earnings report, The Walt Disney Company third quarter performance demonstrates the power of their strong brands, franchises and creative content. The Walt Disney Company reported earnings of $2.5 billion for the quarter. Iger said, “We’re very pleased with our performance in the third quarter, with record net income and diluted earnings per share $1.45, a 13% increase from the prior year.”
The Parks and Resorts segment (which includes Disney Cruise Line) saw revenue increase for the quarter 4% to $4.1 billion with income up 9% to $922 million.
TWDC cited higher operating income at their domestic operations was primarily due to volume and guest spending growth, offset by higher costs. As has been a regular statement in these earnings reports, guest spending growth was due to higher food, beverage and merchandise spending. In addition, it was noted that increases in average prices at Disney Cruise Line and increase in average ticket prices at Disneyland plus higher average hotel room rates played a key role in Q3 2015.
The higher costs were associated with Disneyland Resort’s 60th Anniversary celebration and higher pension and post retirement medical costs. It was noted that marketing costs at Walt Disney World Resort were lower this quarter.
Lower operating income from Disney’s international operations was primarily due to lower attendance and occupied room nights at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, higher operating costs at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and, to a lesser extent, higher pre-opening expenses at Shanghai Disney Resort. These decreases were partly offset by higher average ticket prices and food, beverage and merchandise spending at Disneyland Paris.
Other than what was previously mentioned Disney Cruise Line was not otherwise referenced in the report. I will update this post if anything worthwhile is mentioned during the conference call.
For more information and an overall report click over to the Q3-2015 Earnings Report.