Walt Disney closed a fiscal year in red for the first time in more than 40 years. A boost for the American entertainment group is that the streaming service Disney + is doing much better than expected.
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Many amusement parks were closed for a long time, so Disney lost a lot of income. The production of many films and television series was also suspended.
Disney ultimately posted a loss of $ 2.8 billion (2.4 billion euros) in the fiscal year ending October 3. A year earlier, a net profit of $ 10.4 billion was in the books. Sales fell by 6 percent to $ 65.4 billion (EUR 55.4 billion).
The closures of cinemas worldwide have postponed or canceled virtually all of Disney’s major cinema releases. For example, the company previously announced that the feature film version of Mulan, which was scheduled for cinemas in March, will only be broadcast on its streaming channel. Marvel blockbuster Black Widow and Pixar animated film Soul were also moved.
CEO Bob Chapek does see an important ray of hope: Disney +, the streaming service that has also been available in Belgium since September. At the beginning of October, the Netflix competitor already had more than 73 million paying subscribers worldwide. “Far above our expectations in the first year,” said the CEO.
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