Walt Disney swung to a surprise quarterly profit as The Mandalorian and Soul lifted its fast-growing streaming business, outweighing pandemic worries about its hobbled theme park operations.
Investors overlooked a 53 per cent decline in park revenue in the quarter and welcomed Disney+ streaming reaching 94.9 million subscribers.
The Star Wars-inspired Mandalorian series and Pixar's animated Soul movie helped position the year-old Disney+ as a credible threat to the dominance of Netflix in the streaming video wars.
Including Hulu and ESPN+, Disney's paid streaming membership topped 146 million.
"Disney+ has been a massive success and is a testament to Disney's brand equity and expertise in storytelling," eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom said. "This has been one of the most successful consumer product launches in recent memory."
The company posted earnings of 32 cents per share for October through December. Wall Street had expected a loss of 41 cents per share, according to the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
Quarterly revenue fell to $16.25 billion from $20.88bn a year earlier, but was still above analysts' average estimate of about $15.93bn, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
During the pandemic "we have made significant changes while finding new and innovative ways to conduct our businesses", chief executive Bob Chapek said.
"But at the same time, we have chartered a course for an even more deliberate and aggressive [streaming] push."
As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, Disney's theme parks in California, Hong Kong and Paris remain closed and others have limited attendance to allow for social distancing. The company expects Disneyland in California and Disney Paris to remain closed through March and hopes its park in Hong Kong can reopen sometime before April, chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said.
The movie studio has delayed several major releases as many theatres remain shut.
The media and entertainment distribution unit, which includes streaming, the movie studio and traditional TV networks, reported operating income of $1.5bn, a 2 per cent decline from a year earlier.
At the parks and consumer products division, operating loss hit $119 million, compared with a profit of $2.52bn a year earlier.
The closures and reduced operations cost about $2.6bn, Disney estimated.
Looking ahead, the company said it expected costs to comply with government regulations and to implement safety measures at parks and in TV and film production to reach $1bn in fiscal 2021.
The direct-to-consumer segment, which houses Disney+, reported an operating loss of $466m, compared with an operating loss of $1.11bn in the year-earlier quarter.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Our family matters legal consultant
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Director: Shady Ali
Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
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What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
GROUPS AND FIXTURES
Group A
UAE, Italy, Japan, Spain
Group B
Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Russia
Tuesday
4.15pm: Italy v Japan
5.30pm: Spain v UAE
6.45pm: Egypt v Russia
8pm: Iran v Mexico
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
