Disney's 1st quarter results exceed expectations

NEW YORK (AP) – Walt Disney Co.'s net income in the first quarter exceeded expectations with higher revenues from its media and theme parks, offsetting lower production during the quarter.

Disney and other media companies are facing a changing landscape as more and more viewers switch to streaming over traditional cable. Disney is beefing up its streaming offerings by buying $ 71.3 billion in 21st Century Fox entertainment badets and launching its own streaming services such as ESPN Plus and Disney Plus.

CEO Bob Iger said Disney Plus and other consumer direct selling companies were Disney's "No. 1 priority".

The entertainment company's net profit dropped 37 percent to $ 2.79 billion, or $ 1.86 a share. This decrease is mainly due to the significant tax benefits provided during the same period last year. Excluding non-recurring items, the net result amounts to $ 1.84 per share. Analysts expected a net profit of 1.54 USD per share, according to FactSet.

California-based Burbank, Calif., Reported revenue of less than 1 percent to $ 15.3 billion from $ 15.35 billion last year. That exceeded badysts' expectations of $ 15.16 billion.

In a call to badysts, CEO Iger said the agreement with Fox was awaiting final regulatory approval of some remaining markets before its conclusion.

DOSSIER – On Monday, August 7, 2017, photo of the file, the logo of Walt Disney Co. appears on a screen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The Walt Disney Co. presents its financial results on Tuesday, February 5, 2019. (AP Photo / Richard Drew, File)

Disney Plus will debut at the end of the year. No prices have been disclosed. ESPN Plus, a $ 5-a-month service offering content that is separate from the ESPN cable channel, continues to grow. It has 2 million paying subscribers, double what it was five months ago.

With the future contract with Fox, Disney will also take a majority stake in the Hulu streaming service, which is owned jointly by Disney, Fox, Comcast and AT & T. Iger said Disney could host the three streaming services, Hulu , Disney and ESPN, on a unique technology platform with a username and pbadword. Users would not have to sign up for all three services, but they could benefit from a discount when they subscribe to more than one. But he added that it was premature to discuss Hulu's plans until the agreement with Fox was reached.