The ice-adorned feature film continues to be a red hot property for Disney. Sales of Frozen-themed merchandise contributed to a 22% bump in Disney Consumer Products’ revenue for the first fiscal quarter.
For the period ended December 27, 2014, the House of Mouse saw overall revenue jump 9% to US$13.4 billion, from last year’s US$12.3 billion.
The company also saw revenue increase across all of its divisions, except for Studio Entertainment and Interactive.
On the cable side, improvements at the Disney Channels and ABC Family, as well as the launch of the new Disney channel in Germany, helped Media Network sales climb 11% to US$5.9 billion. Operating income at Cable Networks dropped 2% to US$1.3 billion, mainly due to a decrease at ESPN, which saw higher programming and production costs.
Meanwhile Studio Entertainment revenue decreased 2% to US$1.9 billion in Q1. This was due in part to lower box office sales this quarter, which included Big Hero 6 and the carryover performance of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, as opposed to the prior-year quarter which included Frozen and the release of Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World.
Operating income in this segment increased by 33% to US$544 million, largely thanks to home entertainment releases (Guardians of the Galaxy, Frozen and Maleficent), as well as well as revenue shares from CP sales of Frozen merch.
Disney Consumer Products marked the largest gains. The division posted a 22% increase in profit to US$1.4 billion. Frozen was the standout leader, with Disney Channel properties, Mickey and Minnie, Spider-Man and Avengers also contributing to profit growth.
Frozen had a stellar year in 2014. Along with dethroning Barbie in the National Retail Foundation’s annual Holiday Top Toys list and topping Amazon’s holiday toy list, Frozen had over 300 items on store shelves last year, according to the latest numbers from The NPD Group.
While Disney Interactive posted large gains in last year’s first quarter, on the back of Disney Infinity sales, this year saw revenue dip by 5% to US$384 million from US$403 million. However, operating income increased by US$20 million to US$75 million, thanks to the success of its Tsum Tsum and Frozen Free Fall mobile games, as well as lower product development costs due to fewer titles in development.