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Disney theme parks fall $2bn into red as Covid-19 shuts resorts

Disney’s theme parks and experiences division suffered a loss of $2 billion as the Covid-19 crisis forced the closure of resorts.

The US company recorded an 85% slump in revenues for the sector to $1 billion in the three months to June 27.

Walt Disney Company lost a total of $4.7 billion in the quarter as the virus forced it to close theme parks and delay film releases and production.

The company said: “The impact of Covid-19 and measures to prevent its spread are affecting our segments in a number of ways, most significantly at Parks, Experiences and Products where we closed our theme parks and retail stores, some of which have now re-opened, suspended cruise ship sailings and guided tours and have seen an adverse impact on our merchandise licensing business.

“The most significant impact in the current quarter from Covid-19 was an approximately $3.5 billion adverse impact on operating income at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment due to revenue lost as a result of the closures.

“Lower operating results for the quarter were due to decreases at both the domestic and international parks and experiences businesses and to a lesser extent, at our merchandise licensing and retail businesses.

“As a result of Covid-19, our domestic parks and resorts, cruise line business and Disneyland Paris were closed for all of the current quarter.

“Our Asia parks and resorts were closed for a portion of the current quarter, as Shanghai Disney Resort (pictured) re-opened in May and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort re-opened in late June – Hong Kong Disneyland Resort closed again in July.”

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