Disney profits up 21% on theme parks

The movie John Carter has recorded one of the biggest losses in cinema history

Walt Disney's quarterly profits have beaten analyst expectations, despite the losses sustained by the studio's epic flop John Carter.

<link> <caption>Net income in the second quarter rose 21%</caption> <url href="http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/q2-fy12-earnings.pdf" platform="highweb"/> </link> to $1.1bn (£681m) from the same period last year.

Revenues at its parks and resorts jumped 10%, driven by the US parks as well as those in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

But revenues at its studio decreased 12% to $1.2bn "reflecting the performance of John Carter".

"We're incredibly optimistic about our future, given the strength of our core brands," said Disney chief executive Robert Iger.

He cited the record opening of the superhero film The Avengers, which has made more than $700m globally so far.

Revenues at its media networks jumped 9% to $4.7bn in the quarter due to growth at its sports cable network ESPN.

Last month, the head of Disney film-making studio, Rich Ross, resigned after John Carter's performance.

The media giant said that it will lose $200m on John Carter, about a military captain transported to Mars, making it one of the biggest flops in cinema history.