By Lisa Richwine and Vibhuti Sharma
(Reuters) - Walt Disney Co
Shares of one of the world's biggest entertainment companies, which have gained nearly 9 percent this year, fell 1.9 percent to $113.66 after the bell.
Disney reported earnings of $1.87 per share excluding certain items, an increase from a year earlier but below Wall Street's average forecast of $1.95, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Operating income at Disney's media networks unit declined 1 percent to $1.8 billion. The division recorded a loss from its investment in streaming technology company BAMTech. ESPN, its biggest network, reported higher programming costs and a decline in subscribers, while the fees it collects from distributors rose.
Disney is trying to transform into a broad digital entertainment company as its networks including ESPN are losing viewers to Netflix Inc
Disney also is on the verge of gaining new film and television properties in a $71 billion purchase of assets from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox
For its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, the company's theme parks division recorded a 15 percent profit increase to $1.3 billion with increases at domestic and international resorts.
Disney's movie studio enjoyed blockbuster success with "Avengers: Infinity War" and "The Incredibles 2." Operating income at the studio rose 11 percent to $708 million.
At consumer products, operating income declined 10 percent to $324 million.
Net income attributable to Disney rose to $2.92 billion, or $1.95 per share, in the quarter, compared with $2.37 billion, or $1.51 per share, a year ago.
Total revenue rose 7 percent to $15.23 billion, but missed analysts' average expectation of $15.34 billion.
(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru and Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Bill Rigby)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
