LOS ANGELES: The signature song from Disney’s smash hit Frozen advises listeners to “let it go,” but if there’s one thing that Disney hopes it will never let go of, it’s the Frozen franchise: in releasing fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2015 financial results Thursday afternoon, Disney revealed top- and bottom-line figures that benefited from a Frozen boost.
The Walt Disney Company reported $13.5 billion in fourth quarter revenue, a figure that’s up 9% year-over-year and roughly in-line with the $13.56 billion Wall Street estimate. Net income for the quarter came in at $1.6 billion, resulting in earnings of 95 cents per share, up from 86 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, Disney’s fourth quarter earnings surged 35% to $1.20 per share, a figure that beat the $1.17 per-share analyst consensus.
On a full-year basis, Disney recorded $52.5 billion in revenue, a 7% increase over revenue recorded in 2014. Full-year net income jumped 12% to $8.4 billion, resulting in earnings of $4.90 per share. Excluding special items, the Mickey Mouse company recorded $5.15 in full-year earnings per share, a figure that marks a 19% increase over 2014’s earnings.
“We had a strong quarter, with adjusted earnings per share up 35%, completing our fifth consecutive year of record performance,” Bob Iger, Walt Disney chairman and CEO, said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “In fiscal 2015 we delivered the highest revenue, net income and adjusted EPS in the Company’s history, reflecting the power of our great brands and franchises, the quality of our creative content, and our relentless innovation to maximize value from emerging technologies.”
The company attributed its results to a variety of factors – including, of course, the cash cow that is Frozen. Disney’s 2015 consumer products revenue surged 13% to $4.5 billion compared to 2014, thanks in no small part to the continued success of the Frozen line of goods. Disney also said that its fourth quarter 2015 consumer products revenue – which increased 11% to $1.2 billion – benefited from Frozen, a slightly remarkable feat considering the movie premiered a full two years ago.
On the broadcast and cable side of things, Disney’s results were not nearly as terrible as analysts might have led you to believe earlier in the fall. In the fourth quarter Disney’s media networks segment recorded $5.8 billion in revenue (up 12% year-over-year) and $1.8 billion in operating income (up 27% year-over-year). The company said that the growth was partially attributable to ESPN, which saw affiliate revenue growth that was driven by a “contractual rate increases and an increase in subscribers.” Broadcasting operating income was flat for the quarter, as growth in advertising and affiliate revenue was offset by higher programming costs.
