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Hong Kong Disneyland Sending Workers on Leave to Weather Virus

Hong Kong Disneyland Sending Workers on Leave to Weather Virus

(Bloomberg) --

Hong Kong’s Disneyland said it’s encouraging staff to take vacations and paid leave as the theme park, which has been shut since Jan. 26, seeks to ride out the crisis sparked by the new coronavirus.

Already reeling from a drop in visitors caused by months of violent unrest in Asia’s financial hub, Walt Disney Co.’s local operations have suffered a second blow with the outbreak of Covid-19, as the disease is known. The entertainment facility said net loss for the year through September 2019 almost doubled to HK$105 million ($13.5 million).

Hong Kong Disneyland Sending Workers on Leave to Weather Virus

“It’s an uncertain time for everyone,” Stephanie Young, managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, said on a conference call Monday, referring to the protests and the virus outbreak. “There’s no question that this is going to have a substantial impact on fiscal 2020.” She didn’t elaborate.

The contagion, which has infected over 167,000 people and killed more than 6,400 worldwide, is posing a challenge to Disney’s Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek, who took over the top job from Bob Iger last month. The entertainment giant has closed theme parks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Florida, California and Paris and has put off the opening of new films including “Mulan.”

For more on the impact on Disney:
New Disney CEO Takes On a Crisis Coming From Every Direction
Disney Shuts Resorts, Suspends Cruises as Virus Impact Grows
‘Mulan,’ ‘F9’ Pushed Back as Virus Scrambles Hollywood Schedules

Visitors to Hong Kong dropped 96% last month from a year earlier, according to the city’s tourism board.

Hong Kong Disneyland Sending Workers on Leave to Weather Virus

Disney executives said in November that the unrest in Hong Kong could shave about $275 million off the theme park’s operating income in the fiscal year ending September 2020. They further predicted last month that the shutdown of Hong Kong and Shanghai parks would crimp profits by about $175 million in the current quarter.

--With assistance from Dave McCombs.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shirley Zhao in Hong Kong at xzhao306@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.