The Happiest Place on Earth Less Happy These Days

[marmar]

Disney Shares May Fall After Iger Says Theme-Park Bookings Drop

By Andy Fixmer

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. shares may fall after the world's biggest theme-park operator said fewer visitors are booking resort vacations in the slowing U.S. economy.

Reservations have ``fallen off considerably'' in the past month, Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger said on a conference call yesterday, after reporting a 13 percent decline in fiscal fourth-quarter net income. Disney is offering discounts and merchandise credits to spur attendance at the parks, where profit dropped 4.2 percent.

Earnings also declined at Disney's television and film businesses. As U.S. consumers pull back spending, advertising cutbacks have led media-industry competitors News Corp., CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. to lower their forecasts.

``There's little place to hide right now from the recessionary downturn,'' Janna Sampson, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois, said in an interview. Disney's ``quarter was uglier than anyone anticipated.''

Net income dropped to $760 million, or 40 cents a share, from $877 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier, the Burbank, California-based company reported. Excluding bad debt from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy and other one-time items, profit of 43 cents missed the 49-cent average of 19 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales increased 5.8 percent to $9.45 billion, exceeding the $9.33 billion average estimate.

Disney fell as much as 10 percent in extended trading yesterday to as low as $20.50. Before the results, the shares declined $1.42, or 5.9 percent, to $22.81 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 29 percent this year. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=alpP_sDK0isA&refer=home

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Now where did I put that?

:nopity:

[mrcheerful]

2. It just amazes me how these supposedly smart business tycoons thought that

their empires wouldn't be effected when they started the off shoring, lay off's and down sizing tactics to create more profit. What did they actually believe that businesses could continue to make profits without limits while their customer's were getting less wages and the prices of everything their customer needs to survive went up? It always seems to catch them by surprise when their profits start falling off because the customers can no longer pay for their product or services.

The big 3 are a perfect example of what happens when you pull the profit is more important then the worker crap. The auto worker bought the product they helped make, hell I remember GM workers that bought the crappy, cheaply made 70's cars ( the Vega for one ) as a show of support for the company they worked for, now where are the big 3. The last 30 years of republicon greed and corporate greed convinced these nit wits to off shore, down size.

Am I going to miss these businesses and they way they do business, nope because I don't have the money to buy whatever they are selling and never have.