LOS ANGELES, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Walt Disney Company announced earnings results for its second quarter of fiscal 2019 on Wednesday, exceeding expectations of analysts.
According to a statement of the company, diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations for the quarter, ended March 30, 2019, increased 81 percent to 3.53 U.S. dollars from 1.95 dollars in the prior-year quarter. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, EPS for the quarter decreased 13 percent to 1.61 dollars from 1.84 dollars in the prior-year quarter.
Revenue of the U.S. entertainment giant for the quarter hit 14.92 billion dollars, surpassing the 14.34 to 14.50 billion dollars in revenue that some analysts had expected.
Disney also reported that EPS from continuing operations for the six months ended March 30, 2019 increased to 5.42 dollars from 4.86 dollars in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, EPS for the six months decreased 8 percent to 3.45 dollars from 3.73 dollars in the prior-year period.
Disney's Direct-to-Consumer and International revenues for the quarter increased 15 percent to 955 million dollars and segment operating loss increased from 188 million to 393 million dollars.
The company said that the increase in operating loss was due to our ongoing investment in ESPN+, which was launched in April 2018, costs associated with the upcoming launch of Disney+, a loss from the consolidation of Hulu and higher losses from streaming technology services, partially offset by an increase at our International Channels.
Studio Entertainment revenues of Disney for the second quarter decreased 15 percent to 2.1 billion dollars and segment operating income decreased 39 percent to 534 million dollars. Lower operating income was due to a decrease in theatrical and home entertainment distribution results. The decrease in theatrical distribution results was due to the success of "Black Panther" and the continued performance of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" in the prior-year quarter compared to "Captain Marvel" and no comparable Star Wars title in the current quarter.
Disney also reported that Parks, Experiences and Products revenues for the quarter increased 5 percent to 6.2 billion dollars and segment operating income increased 15 percent to 1.5 billion dollars.
Disney's Media Networks revenues for the quarter were comparable to the prior-year quarter at 5.5 billion dollars and segment operating income decreased 3 percent to 2.2 billion dollars.
The quarter is the first to reflect Disney's 71.3-billion-dollar acquisition of 21st Century Fox. By finalizing the deal, Disney is poised to strengthen its position in the U.S. media and entertainment industry. Disney said that results for the current quarter and six months reflect the consolidation of 11 days of 21st Century Fox and Hulu LLC activities. Revenue for 21st Century Fox for the 11 days totaled 373 million dollars and operating income was 25 million dollars.
"We're very pleased with our Q2 results and thrilled with the record-breaking success of Avengers: Endgame, which is now the second-highest grossing film of all time and will stream exclusively on Disney+ starting December 11th," said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company.
"The positive response to our direct-to-consumer strategy has been gratifying, and the integration of the businesses we acquired from 21st Century Fox only increases our confidence in our ability to leverage decades of iconic storytelling and the powerful creative engines across the entire company to deliver an extraordinary value proposition to consumers," he added.
