by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Walt Disney reduced the operational loss of its streaming platform in the January-March period but lost subscribers, seeing its title decline in post-closing exchanges, despite a quarterly revenue in line with Wall Street expectations.
The title of the entertainment giant lost 4.2% to settle at 96.90 dollars following the publication of its post-closing results.
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, announced that a new application would be made available by the end of the year, bringing together the video-on-demand services Disney+ and Hulu, with the aim of streamlining the experience of users and open up new opportunities for advertisers.
By raising the price of its subscriptions and cutting its advertising costs, Disney improved the performance of its streaming division, with an operating loss of $659 million in the first quarter, compared to $1.1 billion in the October-December period. 2022.
For the group as a whole, diluted earnings per share came in at 93 cents, in line with the median forecast of analysts polled by Refinitiv.
Disney recorded quarterly revenue of 21.82 billion euros, against a consensus of 21.79 billion euros.
Amusement parks continued to draw visitors, with attendance at parks in Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong helping to boost operating profit 23% year on year to $2.2 billion.
“We are pleased with our achievements this quarter, including the improvement in the financial performance of our streaming business which reflects the strategic changes made (…) for sustainable growth and success”, commented Bob Iger in a press release. .
The number of Disney+ subscribers fell by 4 million from the previous quarter, to 157.8 million customers. In large part, these “departures” of subscribers are the consequence of the loss of the broadcasting rights in India of the championship of the cricketing division.
Some 300,000 North American customers have also canceled their subscription to Disney +, the price of which was raised last December in the United States and Canada.
(Report Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski, with Chavi Mehta; Jean Terzian)
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