Disney fortunes go Mickey Mouse
August 4 2002 (MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TIME!)
(Melbourne Age) -- Media giant Walt Disney saw $US3 billion ($A5.6 billion) wiped from its market worth in the United States on Friday, as its stock plunged to a seven-year low on news that tourists were still staying away from its theme parks in Florida and California after September 11.
The number of international guests visiting Disney parks is down 30 per cent from a year ago, president Robert Iger said. He forecast a further slide in fourth-quarter group profit to the end of September as a result.
The group declined to disclose figures on US visitors, saying only that total attendance slipped 6 per cent in the most recent quarter to the end of June.
The parks are Disney's largest profit generator and had been predicted by chief executive Michael Eisner to draw more visitors this quarter than a year ago, when a recession and terrorism hit tourism.
But fear of travelling around the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks is now expected to keep people away.
"I wouldn't want to be flying around in early September myself," said Andrew Rittenberry, a US analyst at Gabelli Asset Management, which owns Disney shares.
Ratings group Standard & Poor's indicated on Friday that it was considering cutting Disney's credit ratings following the fourth-quarter profit downgrade.
Disney shares slid $US1.52, or 9 per cent, to $US15.31, to post its lowest close since $US15.17 on January 10, 1995. Walt Disney stock has dropped 42 per cent in the past year.
In May, the Burbank, California-based company said it anticipated a "substantial improvement" in profit in its fourth quarter ending on September 30.
But on Friday, Disney said continued weakness at the parks would drive down per-share profit excluding some costs.
Hotel bookings at Disney parks, which include Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Southern California, have declined by about 10 per cent from last year, the company said.
International visitors typically make up about 20 per cent of total Disney World attendance and about 15 per cent of Disneyland attendance.
Disney said fewer people were visiting Disney World from European cities where the only direct airline service to Orlando was by a US carrier.
The September 11 attacks were carried out by hijackers who used US commercial planes.
Disney has several promotions aimed at boosting local attendance at its parks. In California, local adult residents pay children's prices and children get in free at California Adventure, the park that opened last year alongside the main Disneyland park.
US airlines and hotels have said they are bracing for a drop in travel during the week of September 11. The decline may hamper the recovery of travel industries still hurt by the decline in demand after the attacks and economic slowdown.
August 4 2002 (MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TIME!)
(Melbourne Age) -- Media giant Walt Disney saw $US3 billion ($A5.6 billion) wiped from its market worth in the United States on Friday, as its stock plunged to a seven-year low on news that tourists were still staying away from its theme parks in Florida and California after September 11.
The number of international guests visiting Disney parks is down 30 per cent from a year ago, president Robert Iger said. He forecast a further slide in fourth-quarter group profit to the end of September as a result.
The group declined to disclose figures on US visitors, saying only that total attendance slipped 6 per cent in the most recent quarter to the end of June.
The parks are Disney's largest profit generator and had been predicted by chief executive Michael Eisner to draw more visitors this quarter than a year ago, when a recession and terrorism hit tourism.
But fear of travelling around the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks is now expected to keep people away.
"I wouldn't want to be flying around in early September myself," said Andrew Rittenberry, a US analyst at Gabelli Asset Management, which owns Disney shares.
Ratings group Standard & Poor's indicated on Friday that it was considering cutting Disney's credit ratings following the fourth-quarter profit downgrade.
Disney shares slid $US1.52, or 9 per cent, to $US15.31, to post its lowest close since $US15.17 on January 10, 1995. Walt Disney stock has dropped 42 per cent in the past year.
In May, the Burbank, California-based company said it anticipated a "substantial improvement" in profit in its fourth quarter ending on September 30.
But on Friday, Disney said continued weakness at the parks would drive down per-share profit excluding some costs.
Hotel bookings at Disney parks, which include Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Southern California, have declined by about 10 per cent from last year, the company said.
International visitors typically make up about 20 per cent of total Disney World attendance and about 15 per cent of Disneyland attendance.
Disney said fewer people were visiting Disney World from European cities where the only direct airline service to Orlando was by a US carrier.
The September 11 attacks were carried out by hijackers who used US commercial planes.
Disney has several promotions aimed at boosting local attendance at its parks. In California, local adult residents pay children's prices and children get in free at California Adventure, the park that opened last year alongside the main Disneyland park.
US airlines and hotels have said they are bracing for a drop in travel during the week of September 11. The decline may hamper the recovery of travel industries still hurt by the decline in demand after the attacks and economic slowdown.
