Friday November 7, 2008
Navivest
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) yesterday reported a 13 percent decline in fourth-quarter income. Also, going on slower than average advanced bookings for the Christmas season, the company is now predicting a difficult operating environment going forward as the weakening economy forces consumers to cut back.
According to Robert Iger, Disney CEO, “Consumer confidence is the lowest we’ve seen in over three decades, and even the best product out there is feeling the effect.”
Analysts were looking for revenues of $9.34 billion, with earnings per share of $0.49. Disney (DIS) reported revenues of $9.45 billion slightly ahead of estimates, but disappointed on the bottom line, with an EPS of $0.43 before factoring out special items.
Including special items, which included a bad debt charge related to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the company reported earnings per share of $0.43 on net income of $760 million, a penny above the $0.42 reported in the fourth quarter of last year. Net income for the year ago period, was $877 million.
For the full fiscal year 2008 ending September 27, the company reported a 7% jump in revenues to $37.8 billion, compared to $35.5 billion for fiscal 2007. Net profit dropped 5 1/2 % to $4.43 billion, compared to the $4.67 billion earned last year. The net profit translated into earnings per share of $2.28, a 1.3% change from the $2.25 EPS reported last year.
On an operational basis, Disney (DIS) is segmented into four divisions, Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment and Consumer Products.
For the full year, revenues for Media Networks came in at $16.116 billion a 7% change from the prior year and operating income was $4.755 billion.
Revenues for Parks and Resorts came in at $11.504 billion, an 8% year over year change, with operating income coming in at $1.897 billion.
At the Studio Entertainment division, revenues came in at $7.348 billion, a 2% decline from the prior year, with operating income coming in at $1.086 billion and the Consumer Products division reported revenues of $2.875 billion, a 26% year over year rise, while operating income came in at $718 million.
