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Property
boosts Euro Disney margin, shrinks loss |
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PARIS, May 9 (Reuters)
- French theme park operator Euro Disney cut its first-half loss by a fifth
and expanded operating profit by a third as revenues from its hotels and
real estate businesses kicked in.
Evidence the group is
finally on a recovery trend drove its hardbitten stock to a fresh year-high
on Wednesday.
Euro Disney tallied a
net loss of 24.2 million euros ($21.36 million) in the six months to March
31 -- 22.7 percent down on its 31.3 million euro loss a year earlier and
broadly in line with expectations.
Revenues rose 4.2 percent
to 420 million euros in the October-to-March period -- traditionally the
slowest months at Euro Disney's Magic Kingdom theme park just north of
Paris.
However the company, hurt
by what analysts consider mismanagement and falling property prices since
its foundation a decade ago, said it had improved its operating margin
-- income before lease and financial charges -- by 36 percent, or 12.8
million euros, to 48.5 million euros.
That was driven chiefly
by real-estate development, the company said. The Magic Kingdom is encircled
by hotels and Euro Disney's Val D'Europe business and commercial centre.
Euro Disney shares, which
spiralled to an all-time low of 0.51 euros in October, rose 2.27 percent
on news of the improved margin to a fresh year high of 0.90 euros. At 1334
GMT they were holding onto those gains, outpacing France's SBF 120 index
that was off 0.95 percent at the time.
Volume was strong, with
three million shares changing hands.
REPEAT
VISITORS MAY SWITCH TO NEW PARK
Higher attendance levels
at the Magic Kingdom boosted revenues there by 4.6 percent to 185.2 million
euros, and hotel occupancy set a first-half record since the Disneyland
Paris resort opened in 1992, the company said. It gave no figures.
Euro Disney is building
a second theme park beside the Magic Kingdom, in line with the strategy
of leading shareholder the Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS - news) that clusters
several parks together to boost the number of days, and amount of cash,
visitors spend.
Euro Disney said construction
of the Walt Disney Studios was on schedule and on budget, with staff recruitment
due to start in September. So far capital expenditure on the new park,
due to open in spring 2002, has totalled 241.6 million euros.
BNP Paribas analyst Nigel
Reed cautioned that though the results were in line with his forecasts,
the second park may not significantly boost visitor numbers at a time when
European economies were starting to slow down.
``A lot of the current
revenue comes from repeat visitors who may switch to the new park next
year, thus not helping total revenues to rise,'' he said.
``Until the revenue situation
becomes clear, the shares remain a highly risky investment due to high
financial and operational gearing, and have a number of characteristics
which we find most unattractive,'' he said.
Reed repeated his ``underperform''
rating and share price target of 0.80 euros. |
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Disney
hopes for a spring in attendance |
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Anaheim - When relatively
small crowds showed up at the opening of Disney's new California Adventure
theme park, Disney officials said, "Just wait for spring break." That's
when 494,178 children are out of school in Orange County - this week and
next. Not to mention students around the rest of the country.
California Adventure,
which opened Feb. 8, has been plagued by unseasonably cold and rainy weather,
a slowing economy and grumbling about the park and its $43 adult admission
price. But on Wednesday, visitors may finally have begun to materialize.
Despite threatening clouds, moderate crowds showed up at the new park,
pushing waits at Soarin' Over California and other rides to 45 minutes
to an hour. "This week, considering we had some cold weather and rainy
weather, we're off to a very good start," Disney spokesman Ray Gomez said.
That would be a huge
relief for Disney, which sank $1.4billion into building the 55-acre California
Adventure. It also would be good news for Anaheim city officials and for
businesses that are dependent on Disney crowds. They and the government
spent upward of $4.2 billion renovating the Anaheim Resort area.
The new park isn't out
of the woods yet. It has been heavily criticized in Internet chat rooms
for the lack of attractions, high prices and not being child-friendly -
even by die-hard Disneyland fans. And some tourists were disappointed and
told friends, creating a word-of-mouth problem for the park.
Las Vegas resident Rena
Gottwig, who took her son Jacob, 9, to Disneyland, said she hadn't been
interested in the new park despite radio stations in Las Vegas hyping it.
"A friend of mine heard word of mouth that it wasn't worth it," Gottwig
said. California Adventure holds about 30,000 people but has hardly been
able to get more than 10,000 a day, said Al Lutz, editor of MousePlanet.
com, an unofficial Disney Web site. The slow attendance happened even as
some parks are doing well. Disneyland was crowded Wednesday with waits
of an hour or more at many rides. Disneyland is exceeding attendance expectations,
Lutz said. The 85-acre park holds 50,000 to 60,000 people.
"With Disneyland, I think
people are buying something they already know," Lutz said. "I think the
other problem is they really got off on the wrong foot as far as promoting
the new park. People don't understand that if you buy a ticket for one
you can't get in the other." Adult tickets to both parks would cost a total
of $86.
Krist Baggett and her
family, from Hemet, went to Disneyland on Wednesday because "we heard there
was more to do at Disneyland."
New Jersey resident Rodney
Morgan took his two girls, Amanda and Meghan, to the new park because "that's
where they wanted to go, to see it for the first time."
Morgan liked the park
and said he thought the crowds weren't bad.
Disney believes spring
break could turn around California Adventure's attendance troubles. Spring
break "is always a busy time of year," Gomez said.
"As long as we continue
to experience warm weather and no rain, we think we'll have a very strong
spring." |
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Who
Wants to be a Millionaire ? |
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Cast members
Kevin Keyser, left, and Olgia Campbell rehearse Disney-MGM's newest attraction,
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-Play It!," at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in
this March 29, 2001 handout photo. The attraction allows visitors to participate
in a game show resembling the popular television show. It opens Saturday,
April 7. |
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Walt
Disney World |
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Main Street
U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom, with Cinderella Castle in background, is shown
at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in this undated
handout photo. For many American families, a trip to Disney World is a
pilgrimage that can't be missed. |
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"Uncle
Scrooge" euro |
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A sample of
the "Uncle Scrooge" euro coin presented in Rome Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2001.
The Disney character-inspired coin will be distributed in schools to promote
European Union's single currency awareness, as the euro's official introduction
in 2002 approaches. The sides of the coin have: at left, a profile of Uncle
Scrooge with the word "First" in nine European languages; at right, the
euro symbol with the words "First Euro of Uncle Scrooge" and "United Europe." |
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Disney
and Wenner Media |
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Chairman and
Owner of US Weekly Jann S. Wenner (L) and Chairman and CEO of Walt Disney
Company Michael Eisner (R) shake hands after a press conference announcing
the formation of a new venture, US Weekly, LLC in New York, on February
27, 2001. Under the venture agreement, Disney and Wenner Media each owns
fifty percent of the new venture that will be based in New York and managed
by existing US Weekly executives. |
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Hong
Kong Disneyland |
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Walt Disney
Parks and Resorts chairman Paul Pressler speaks in front of an illustration
of the future Hong Kong Disneyland during a news conference in Hong Kong,
February 20, 2001. Disney is expected to begin the construction of Hong
Kong Disneyland in late 2002 at Penny's Bay in the territory's largest
island of Lantau, and plans to open the facility by 2006. |
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Disney's
California Adventure Park |
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Walt Disney
Company's CEO Michael Eisner (L) walks with his wife Janet through the
Hollywood Pictures Backlot at the opening of Disney's California Adventure
February 8, 2001 in Anaheim, California. The addition of a second theme
park and a new shopping and entertainment mall complete the Walt Disney
Company's desire to make the original Disneyland park a tourist resort. |
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UK's
Winnie de Pooh sold to Disney |
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LONDON, March 4 (Reuters)
- Britain's cuddly honey-guzzling cartoon character Winnie The Pooh has
been sold for a massive 240 million pound ($350 million) honeypot in the
country's biggest literary contract, The Sunday Times newspaper said. The
sale of the rights to the lovable bear to Walt Disney Co. this weekend
has brought in 60 million pounds for the exclusive Westminster School and
the Garrick Club. The biggest single beneficiary of the cash pot will be
the Royal Literary Society, set to receive about 90 million pounds. Disney
first bought the rights to the Winnie the Pooh characters in the 1960s,
and has since been paying twice-yearly royalties to the beneficiaries.
It will now pay the lump sum for the rights to Winnie until the copyright
expires in 2026, the paper said. Sales of Pooh products have doubled over
the past five years, while Disney's own stable of characters, numbering
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, have managed just 20 per cent growth, the
newspaper reported. Christopher Robin Milne, the son of Winnie's creator
A.A. Milne, sold half of his quarter share of the story's royalties before
he died five years ago. The other half was handed over to set up a fund
for his daughter, Clare, who was born with cerebral palsy. Now in her forties,
Clare has in recent years received about 500,000 pounds a year. She will
receive a one-off check for 30 million pounds, while Christopher Robin's
wife, Lesley, will get nothing. |
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Disney,
Coca-Cola to Market Disney-Branded Children's Beverages |
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The Walt Disney Company
and The Coca-Cola Company today announced an agreement to market innovative
and nutritious children's beverages globally under the Disney brand. The
first products launched will be juices and juice drinks from The Minute
Maid Company, an operating group of The Coca-Cola Company. Don Knauss,
president and CEO of The Minute Maid Company, and Andy Mooney, president
of Disney Consumer Products Worldwide, said that the companies together
will market healthful juices, juice drinks, milk-based and water-based
drinks, punches and smoothies. These products will be packaged in entertaining
and colorful containers featuring Disney's beloved characters, including
Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. The first beverages to enter the market
include "Mickey's X-treme Coolers(TM)," a unique new vitamin-fortified
juice drink targeted to kids. With fun flavors like Raspberry Rage, Bora
Bora Berry and Citrus Chiller, Mickey's X-treme Coolers will be packaged
in kid-friendly, single-serve pouches and distinctive multi-serve plastic
bottles. A nutritious, 100 percent juice product, "Pooh's 100 Acre Wood
Apple-Berry(TM)" is designed for younger children and will feature four
apple and berry blends fortified with vitamin C and calcium. The product
will be packaged in both single-serve drink boxes and multi-serve plastic
bottles. Both product lines are targeted for introduction to U.S. supermarkets
during 2001. Coca-Cola expects to roll out the Disney-branded children's
beverages internationally in 2002. "We're delighted that this relationship
brings together two of the world's most trusted consumer brands," said
Knauss. "These healthful beverages will meet parents' needs and are fun
for kids." Said Mooney, "The Disney and Minute Maid brands have consistently
delivered quality products and value to consumers for generations. This
agreement represents an exciting new direction for Disney and a unique
way to bring Disney magic to children worldwide." Under the long-term agreement,
the Walt Disney Company and The Coca-Cola Company will work together to
produce targeted marketing efforts to support sales, including advertising
campaigns, consumer promotions, themed packaging, in-store displays and
point-of-sale messages. |
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