Entertainment SVoDs contribute £199m of overall £253m in Q4

Agatha All Along

Agatha All Along was one of Disney+’s recent series launch

Disney’s entertainment direct-to-consumer business registered a $253m (£199m) profit in Q4 to deliver overall operating income of $321m (£253m) across its streaming operations, according to its year-end financial results.

The figures, which Disney had projected to maintain and grow its streaming profitability in Q4 after registering its first D2C profit of $47m (£37m) in its Q3’s results. The overall streaming business grew profits by over 500%, while the entertainment segment – which includes Disney+ and Hulu services – turned around a $19m (£15m) loss last quarter.

The US giant is forecasting a double-digit percentage growth in its entertainment profitability in fiscal year 2025, compared with 2024.

Disney attributed its strong finish to the financial year has been driven by a growth in streaming, an impressive box office turnover and a subscriber boost.

The company’s streaming business delivered revenues of $6.3bn (£4.97bn) in Q4 up 13% year-on-year from the $5.6bn (£4.4bn) in the equivalent period last year. Overall, revenues increased 6% y-o-y in Q4 to $22.6bn (£17.8bn) from $21.2bn (£16.7bn) in 2023, contributing to year-end revenues of $91.4bn (£72.1bn) up 3% y-o-y from $88.9bn (£70.1bn) in 2023.

Revenues were aided by an increase of 4.4m subscribers to Disney+ core and Hulu subscriptions, with Disney ending the quarter with 174m subs, and more than 120m Disney+ core paid users.

Chief executive Bob Iger namechecked high-profile series Shōgun and The Bear as contributing to a record year of critical accolades.

Shogun - Toranaga, Blackthorne and Mariko

Shōgun was one of Disney’s leading titles in 2024

“In Q4 we saw one of the best quarters in the history of our film studio, improved profitability in our streaming businesses, a record-breaking 60 Emmy Awards for the company, the continued power of live sports, and the unveiling of an impressive collection of new projects coming to our experiences segment,” he said.

“This was a pivotal and successful year for The Walt Disney Company, and thanks to the significant progress we’ve made, we have emerged from a period of considerable challenges and disruption well positioned for growth and optimistic about our future.”