The ongoing success of Harry Potter, in addition to Universal’s increased stake in Universal Studios Japan, has resulted in strong earnings of more than US$1bn (€896m, £683m) for parent company Comcast in its latest earnings report.
Theme park revenue for Universal in Q4 marked a 38.6 per cent increase on the same figures last year, jumping from US$735m (€658.9m, £501.7m) thanks in-part to the addition of Universal Studios Japan,
which Comcast bought a majority stake during the third quarter of last year.
Fourth quarter operating cash flow also increased, rising 36.6 per cent to US$452m (€405.2m, £308.5m) compared to US$330m (€295.8m, £225.3m) in the same period last year.
Even excluding the acquisition of Universal Japan, which accounted for US$169m (€151.5m, £115.4m) of overall revenue and US$80m (€71.7m, £54.6m) of operating cash flow, revenue still showed an increase of 15.5 per cent, while operating cash flow jumped 12.3 per cent.
Universal attributes the continued success of Orlando's Harry Potter attractions to higher guest attendance and per capita spending, as well as Universal Hollywood's new
Fast and Furious: Supercharged ride and the company’s annual
Halloween Horror Nights.
For the year ended 31 December 2015, Universal’s theme parks have performed strongly, with a revenue increase of 27.3 per cent to US$3.3bn (€3bn, £2.2bn) compared to US$2.6bn (€2.3bn, £1.8bn) in 2014. Operating cash flow also increased by 33.5 per cent to US$1.5bn (€1.3bn, £1bn) compared to US$1.1bn (€986m, £751m) in 2014.
On the back of huge growth driven by the success of Universal’s Harry Potter attractions, Comcast – the parent company of Universal – has started an aggressive expansion of its theme park business globally,
promising “one great attraction” a year at all of its parks.
At the moment, Universal is
building a King Kong attraction at Islands of Adventure, with further investment planned for a
new waterpark. Work is underway on Sapphire Falls, a luxury 4,200 bedroom resort, while the company
recently signed a C¥50bn US$7.85bn (€6.93bn, £5bn) deal for its largest theme park ever, which will open in Beijing, China in 2019. Universal is also
opening a Wizarding World of Harry Potter in its Hollywood Studios park, which is set to open in April this year.
