EARNINGS FOR DISNEY EXPECTED TO BE FLAT.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer BURBANK - First-quarter earnings for The Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Co. are expected to be flat compared with last year, as strong theme park business is tempered by the Go.com Internet failure and struggling consumer products, according to a consensus of analysts. The Burbank-based media giant is expected to meet or just beat 25 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. , a figure that drops to 15 cents per share when results of Disney Internet Group are included, say analysts polled by First Call/Thompson Financial. David Miller of Los Angeles investment bank Sutro & Co. said the first quarter had been a mixed bag for Disney. Attention to the bottom line by chief financial officer Thomas O. Staggs Thomas O. Staggs is the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Walt Disney Company. [1] Career Thomas O. Staggs currently oversees Disney's worldwide finance organization, corporate strategy and development, acquisitions, has kept interest expenses down, Miller said. But most of the studio division's output was disappointing, including ``102 Dalmatians,'' which meant further woes for the closely aligned consumer products business. Even the hit 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. game show ``Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?'' which has helped drive earnings in past quarters, has been on a ratings roller coaster in its second season. ``Consumer confidence has really been heading south for the last three months and if that is the leading indicator Leading Indicator A measurable economic factor that changes before the economy starts to follow a particular pattern or trend. Leading indicators are used to predict changes in the economy, but are not always accurate. , Disney's stock tends to follow it,'' Miller said. Miller and other analysts will be in Anaheim today for an analysts' conference sponsored by Disney, which also gives the company an opportunity to showcase its newest theme park, California Adventure, which will open to the public Thursday. In November, Disney reported robust fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates on strong showings by the media networks and parks/resorts. Even then, the Internet division was reporting steep losses. Disney said last week that it would take a $790 million charge in the second quarter to close the Go.com portal and no longer trade Disney Internet Group as a separate stock. The company plans to release an earnings report today consolidating both the corporate and Internet stock Internet stock The equity security of a company engaged primarily in a business associated with the Internet. Also called dot-com. . Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. said lower ratings for ``Millionaire'' will help drive 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. up 5 percent at the media networks division. Consumer products, which has been trying to reinvent itself, will likely see operating income rise by just 3 percent, whereas the theme park business should see those numbers rise by 10 percent. ``Theme parks should really have a solid quarter,'' Miller said, noting that Disneyland had to turn people away in the last weeks of 2000. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion