High School Musical lifts Disney

The High School Musical films have proved to be very popular

The continuing success of the High School Musical franchise has helped entertainment giant Walt Disney lift revenue by 9%.

Reporting its results for the three months to 29 December, Disney's revenues increased to $10.45bn (£5.3bn) from $9.6bn a year earlier.

Its consumer products unit saw sales up 29%, led by merchandise linked to the High School Musical films.

Disney's results exceeded Wall Street analyst expectations.

'Pretty optimistic'

Disney's net profit fell 26% to $1.25bn but this drop reflected the fact that the previous year's results had been lifted by a one-off gain from the sale of the firm's shares in both US Weekly magazine and the E! Entertainment television channel.

It truly sounds like they are better prepared... to deal with an economic downturn than they were during the last recession Rich Greenfield of Pali Research

Disney's television division saw its latest revenues rise 10%, while those at its theme parks added 11%.

Only its film studio unit disappointed, reporting flat revenues.

Disney said it was "pretty optimistic" it could ride out any US recession.

Analysts welcomed Disney's latest results.

"I think that it truly sounds like they are better prepared... to deal with an economic downturn than they were during the last recession," said Rich Greenfield of Pali Research.

SMH Capital analyst David Miller added that the results were "one of the best" he had seen from Disney.