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To: DebtBomb who wrote (200363)	5/5/2009 4:47:52 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Respond to of 306849

If I want some Disney fantasy, I'll pick up some discounted three day Parkhopper passes ---- DJ Disney CEO Sees "Some Signs" of Economy Stabilizing . (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires May 05, 2009 16:39 ET (20:39 GMT) Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 04 39 PM EDT 05-05-09 --- Disney Profit Falls 46% but Tops Expectations BY KATHY SHWIFF Walt Disney Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings dropped 46% on lower revenue, especially at its theme-park and movie-studio divisions. Charges also pressured the bottom line. Even so, the entertainment giant's shares rose 3.6% to $23.99 in after-hours trading as the bottom-line results topped Wall Street's expectations. Revenue, though, fell short. President and Chief Executive Robert Iger called the quarter "difficult ... due to the weak economy and other factors." The recession has cut attendance at Disney theme parks and its entertainment operations have been suffering from declining advertising, viewership and DVD sales. To find other revenue sources, the media company recently struck deals to add clips from its shows to Google Inc.'s YouTube and bought a big stake in Hulu.com, the online-video site co-owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal and News Corp. For the quarter ended March 28, Disney reported a profit of $613 million, or 33 cents a share, down from $1.13 billion, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest results included 10 cents a share in restructuring charges and write-downs. Revenue dropped 7.2% to $8.09 billion. Analysts' estimates were for per-share earnings of 40 cents, not counting the special items, on revenue of $8.16 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Disney's media networks division, which includes television and provides about 40% of the company's revenue, saw earnings slid 3.7% but revenue rose 2%. Profit at Disney's theme parks, which provide almost a quarter of the company's revenue, fell 50% and revenue declined 12%. Comparisons were hurt by Easter not being in the quarter this year as it was last year. Disney has been offering discounts to boost attendance and has cut about 1,900 jobs in the unit. Disney said those who visited the parks in general spent less while there. Profit sank 97% in the studio-entertainment division while revenue dropped 21% primarily because of decreases in U.S. DVD sales and world-wide theater ticket sales. Its two main movies during the quarter -- "Bedtime Stories" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" -- underperformed year-earlier hits "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" and "Enchanted." Write to By Kathy Shwiff at kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com