Theme parks and TV channels drive Disney profits

The Muppets movie has made more money than expected for Disney

Profits at Walt Disney have risen thanks to the rising popularity of its theme parks and earnings from its television channels.

Disney reported profits between October and December last year of $1.46bn(£0.92bn), a rise of 12%.

However revenue in its film business fell, despite the successful release of the Muppets movie in the United States.

Disney's shares fell by 1.3% in after-hours trading in New York.

Hong Kong success

Revenue overall for the quarter rose by 1% to $10.8bn, slightly short of analysts' expectations.

It was helped by higher ticket prices and attendance levels at Disney's theme parks.

The company said those revenues were boosted by the opening of Toy Story Land at Hong Kong Disneyland in November.

Disney's television businesses performed solidly, the company said, with cable and satellite distributors paying more to carry ESPN sports programming.

"There's real demand there so I'd say the advertising marketplace is healthy,'' Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told analysts on a conference call.

Revenue in Disney's film division fell because the studio released fewer films than it had in previous years to avoid failures.

The Muppets earned more than expected, but the results were still lower when compared to a year earlier when Toy Story 3 was released on DVD.

Disney also spent several hundred million dollars more in capital expenditure compared to the same period last year, including the cost of building its fourth cruise ship, the Disney Fantasy.