Disney Continues to Forecast Lower Captial Expenditure, Pushing Theme Park Projects Into the Future

    In an earnings call this afternoon, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy offered some updated guidance on their planned capital expenditure figures. Back in late 2022, we wrote about how Disney was planning a significant increase in capital expenditure projects this year. Disney said that they planned on spending $6.7 billion in fiscal 2023, but a new figure from McCarthy today cuts that number by more than 16%.

    For fiscal 2023 cash content spend companywide is expected to remain roughly comparable to last year excluding any potential impacts from the writer’s strike. And we expect that fiscal 2023 capital expenditures will total approximately $5.6 billion. This is lower than our prior guide of $6 billion largely due to timing of projects at DPEP as well as lower technology spend at DMED.
    Christine McCarthy, Disney CFO

    The decrease in spending is not wholly unexpected. Disney typically spends less than initial guidance, and Disney is also looking to make cuts to spending in general at the company, with a $5.5 billion reduction set as the target.

    However, Disney’s currently planned capital expenditure spend of $5.6 billion, if that ends up being the final number, would be the largest capex figure to date. Previous highs were $4.9 billion in 2022, $4.8 billion in 2019, and $4.7 billion in 2016. While capex forecasting in this context works for the company as a whole, McCarthy noted that the decrease in planned spend was “…largely to due timing of projects at DPEP…” (Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products). This foreshadows a sliding of timeframes for projects into fiscal 2024, which starts in October 2023. McCarthy didn’t specify which projects may have slid into 2024.

    Daytime rendering for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

    Notable projects that need to be completed at Disney World include the World Celebration section of EPCOT, which is expected to open later this year. Internationally, Disney has a number of projects including a Zootopia-themed land in Shanghai Disneyland and a Frozen-themed area in Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.

    Looking to the future, Iger reiterated his stance on being bullish on expanding the theme parks but was a bit more cautious due to an adversarial stance by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Iger has previously said that Disney is planning on spending $17 billion at Walt Disney World alone over the next 10 years, but in the call today, he asked “does the State want us to invest more…or not?” when discussing DeSantis’ retaliatory actions.

    Disney CEO Bob Iger: DeSantis’ Retaliation Is Not About Special Privileges, Does The State Want Us To Invest More or Not?
    Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke out about the ongoing battle between Walt Disney World and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
    blogmickey.com

    As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!

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