The Walt Disney Company Limited, which oversees the entertainment giant’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business, posted a profit of £570.98 million ($731 million) and turnover of £3.8 billion ($4.86 billion) between Oct. 2, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023.
The increase was driven primarily by Disney+ and a strong performance in motion pictures during the period, offset by a downside in licensed content distribution. Titles released during the period included “Elemental,” the live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” and new seasons of “The Bear” and “The Kardashians.”
The figures, which were disclosed in a new report filed with U.K. business registrar Companies House on Monday, mark an increase from the £401.69 million ($514 million) profit and £3.13 billion ($4 billion) turnover reported for the prior year period.
Turnover includes television licensing, royalties received from character merchandising and publications, subscriptions and advertising revenue related to TV broadcasting, film distribution revenue, sale of home entertainment products, theatrical productions, direct-to-consumer subscription based video streaming service, the sale of vacation packages, inter-company EMEA operating fees for commercial exploitation of its intellectual properties and other ancillary activities.
The U.K. & Ireland accounted for £1.09 billion ($1.4 billion) of turnover, while the rest of Europe made up £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) and the rest of the world made up $195.19 million.
£3.3 billion ($4.2 billion) of Disney EMEA’s turnover came from television, streaming, film distribution, theatrical productions and IP development and exploitation divisions, while the remaining £526 million ($673 million) came from its experiences, including character merchandising and publications and vacation packages.
The report also notes that the “arms length” value of EMEA intellectual property rights related to Marvel and Lucasfilm was $2.16 billion as of Sept. 15, 2023, an increase of $774.3 million on the original 2014 acquisition value.
The 2023 financials for the EMEA business come as Disney has made progress towards streaming profitability after narrowing its direct-to-consumer operating losses 97% to $18 million during the second quarter of 2024.
Despite posting a profit for its entertainment streaming services, Disney+ and Hulu, the company warned that it would not repeat the feat in the third quarter, despite its combined business still being on track for profitability by the end of fiscal year 2024.
“We’ve said all along our path to profitability will not be linear,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told analysts on Tuesday. “While we’re anticipating a softer third quarter, due in large part to the seasonality of our Indian sports offerings, we fully expect streaming to be a growth driver for the company in the future and we have prioritized the steps necessary to achieve this.”
Disney+ boasts a total of 153.6 million paid global subscribers and 22.5 million ad tier subscribers. Core Disney+ subscribers hit 117.6 million, including 54 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and 63.6 million international subscribers excluding Disney+ Hotstar, which reported 36 million subscribers.
Shares of Disney have climbed 11% in the past six months, past year and year to date.
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