DISNEY DOUBLES ITS PROFITS.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

BURBANK -- Powered by its thriving movie division's hits ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' and ``Cars,'' The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter profit more than double from a year ago.

With media networks and theme parks also performing quite strong, Disney's performance exceeded Wall Street expectations. The quarter's net profit totaled $782 million, up 106.3 percent from $379 million in the year-ago period. Per-share earnings increased 89.5 percent, to 36 cents from 19 cents.

``We have had a great year by just about every measure,'' Disney President and CEO Bob Iger told analysts during an afternoon conference call. Revenue increased 14 percent, to $8.8 billion from $7.7 billion in the 2005 year-end quarter.

For the 2006 fiscal year ending Sept. 30, total earnings jumped by 33 percent, to $3.37 billion, or $1.64 a share, and revenue rose 7 percent, to $34.3 billion from $31.94 billion.

``We delivered our fourth straight year of double-digit earnings growth,'' Iger said.

The studio has had a stellar year with ``Pirates'' surpassing the $1 billion mark in combined domestic and international gross and the Pixar-animated film ``Cars'' the second-highest grossing movie of 2006 behind ``Pirates.''

For the quarter, the studio division's revenues increased by 33 percent, to $2 billion.

The media networks division saw revenue for the quarter rise by 10 percent, to $3.7 billion. ESPN enjoyed higher affiliate and advertising revenues while the ABC broadcast network was able to command higher advertising rates with such hit shows as ``Desperate Housewives,'' ``Grey's Anatomy'' and ``Lost.''

The Parks and Resorts division had revenue of $2.5 billion, an increase of 8 percent from last year's fourth quarter. While attendance at Anaheim's Disneyland Resort was down by 7 percent, it was offset by a 5 percent increase at Orlando's Walt Disney World Resort.

The Consumer Products division saw its fourth-quarter revenues go up by 9 percent, to $564 million. The increase was largely due to products connected to the ``Cars,'' ``Pirates'' and Disney Princesses franchises.

Disney's brass are looking to start fiscal 2007 off strong with the DVD release of ``Cars,'' which sold more than 5 million copies in its first two days of release.

``The huge success of `Pirates,' `(The Chronicles of) Narnia' and ``Cars' were obviously the highlight of our year at the studio and we expect to continue to reap benefits for years to come,'' said Disney's Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs. ``We go into 2007 with a strong foundation.''

Shares of Disney stock closed at $33.58, up 48 cents on the New York Stock Exchange.

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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