DISNEY DOUBLES UP NET INCOME SOARS TO $1.7 BILLION IN FOURTH QUARTER.Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer BURBANK -- Fueled by the robust DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. sales of ``Pirates of the Caribbean This article is about the franchise. For other, more specific uses, see Pirates of the Caribbean (disambiguation). For real pirates, see Piracy in the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest'' and ``Cars,'' The Walt Disney Co. more than doubled its net income to $1.7 billion during a stellar first quarter. The entertainment conglomerate announced Wednesday during an earnings call with analysts that it also had strong one-time gains during the quarter totaling $1.1 billion from the sale of its shares in US Weekly magazine and the E! Entertainment Channel. But even without the one-time boosts, the DVD sales and strong ratings for ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. and cable channels, including ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network , were enough on their own to make for a strong three months ending Dec. 30. ``These results are particularly gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. given the great year we had in 2006 and are another clear sign our strategy is driving growth and creating shareholder value,'' said Disney President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Bob Iger. The net income of $1.7 billion, or 79 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , dwarfed the $734 million, or 37 cents a year, posted in the same period a year earlier. Disney's revenue was up by 10 percent to $9.725 billion from the $8.854 billion reported 12 months ago. The studio division led the way with revenue of $2.6 billion, an increase of 29 percent. The division's operating income Operating Income The profit realized from a business' own operations. Notes: This would not include income from things such as investments in other firms. Also referred to as operating profit or recurring profit. shot up more than fourfold to $604 million from 2006's first-quarter total of $128 million. ``It's not every day that the same studio had the top two movies in a given year and to have both films come out on DVD in the same quarter,'' said Rick Munarriz, senior analyst for media and technology investing at The Motley Fool. The DVD surge was also helped by the re-release of ``The Little Mermaid'' and was enough to offset the first-quarter box office disappointments ``The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'' starring Tom Allen -- the least successful of the three films in the franchise -- and ``Deja Vu'' starring Denzel Washington. Disney's media networks division was also strong with a 6 percent bump in revenue to $3.9 billion. This was driven by an increase in subscription fees at Disney's international television channels and strong DVD sales of the Disney Channel movie ``High School Musical'' and the hit dramas ``Grey's Anatomy'' and ``Lost.'' ``Disney earned their luck,'' Munarriz said. ``Under Iger, they have basically blown away analyst estimates every single quarter since he took over.'' The news was good for the Parks and Resorts division largely because of Florida's Walt Disney World Noun 1. Walt Disney World - a large amusement park established in 1971 to the southwest of Orlando Orlando - a city in central Florida; site of Walt Disney World Resort, which had higher average ticket prices driving up guest spending. This offset lower attendance and guest spending at Anaheim's Disneyland Resort as Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland (Traditional Chinese: 香港迪士尼樂園) is the first theme park inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks, also struggles. ``The early going at Hong Kong has been more challenging than we had hoped,'' Disney Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs told analysts gathered for a two-day conference at Walt Disney World in Florida. Revenue for the quarter was up by 4 percent to $2.5 billion and operating income increased 8 percent to $405 million. Disney's consumer products division saw its revenue fall by 6 percent in the quarter to $692 million and its operating income drop 13 percent to $235 million. Disney shares rose 29 cents to $35.48 at the end of regular trading on the New York Stock exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . In after-hours trading, shares rose an additional 62 cents. greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3758 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) The Walt Disney Co.'s revenue was up 10 percent compared to last year, thanks to DVD sales of ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,'' below, and the sale of its shares in US Weekly magazine and the E! Entertainment Channel. Reinhold Matay/Associated Press (3 -- color) The Walt Disney Co. exceeded analyst forecasts Wednesday by 11 cents per share, helped by strong sales of DVDs like ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' and ``Cars.'' Disney/Pixar |
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