The Corona-crisis has left a deep mark in the entertainment group Walt Disney. The company reported Tuesday after the market close for the past quarter of a unusual net loss of $ 4.7 billion. Sales plunged 42 percent to 11.8 billion dollars. Particularly dramatic is the situation in the division, including the theme parks, cruise ships and in Disney stores. Here, sales fell by 85 percent from $ 6.6 billion to $ 983 million.
Roland Lindner
economic correspondent in New York.
F. A. Z. Twitter
The most Disney of the Parks were in the reporting quarter, on the 27. June, ended, closed. The Park in Shanghai opened in may, in Hong Kong at the end of June were admitted to the first visitors, but in July, the site was closed again. The Parks in Paris and Florida were opened again in July, Disneyland in California, can still not be visited. At the re-opening of Disney but gently, and limited the number of guests. Disney says, alone in the division with the parks of the Corona have pushed the crisis, the operating result of 3.5 billion dollars.
“Mulan” on the home television
Also other parts of the group have been hit by the pandemic difficult. In the film division, sales fell by more than 50 percent. In the face of the closed cinemas, Disney has moved the release of new movies or deleted. And the group struggled with the high requirements set out in the previous year, as the superhero film “Avengers: Endgame” came out. Disney also suffers from the way in which the production of films and television series because of the Corona was exposed to the crisis temporarily. Here Chairman of the Board Bob Chapek had but still a good message, and said in a telephone conference, the Work on new Material had been recorded both in America and abroad.
The great hope of the group, the video platform “Disney+”, which competes with Netflix is currently. She started last November in America, since March, it is also available in Germany. Chapek said, you have to 60.5 million subscribers, and the sun far beyond the original plans. Compared with the beginning of may, when Disney called for the last Time, Numbers, and 54.5 million customers, was the increase but manageable, especially since Disney+ took a few weeks ago, the much-anticipated Musical “Hamilton” into the program. Also, Netflix recently reported figures in the submission of quarter, the initial boost in subscriber numbers in the Wake of the Corona-crisis has weakened.
