Disney announced today in their earnings call that they expect operating income to drop by over $175 million due to closures in Hong Kong and Shanghai for Q1 2020. The current expectation from Disney is that they expect both Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney Resort to be closed for two months, at least as far as Q2 2020 is concerned.
In Q2 2020, Hong Kong Disneyland is expected to see operating income to drop by $145 million due to Coronavirus and ongoing political protests, representing an additional $40 million drop in operating income. Shanghai Disney Resort is expected to see a decrease of $135 million in operating income due to the closure. Combined, this would mean a total loss of operating income of over $280 million in Q2 2020.
Typically, both these parks see strong attendance during this time due to Chinese New Year celebrations, but due to protests, they were already seeing lowered visitation. Losses in Q2 are highly dependent on the duration of these closures and how soon the parks can resume normal operations.
All these figures are based on the assumption of two months of park closures in Q2 2020.
What protests?