Vivendi Universal Gets $1 Bil; Stocks Fall

[mkt]

Vivendi Universal Gets $1 Bil; Stox Fall

PARIS (Variety) -- Beleaguered media giant Vivendi Universal's shares fell 8.7% on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday despite its confirmation that it had received a desperately needed 1 billion euro ($988.7 million) cash injection.

 

[Disney4648]

HA HA!:lol: Well thats not good news for all of you Universal and IOA fans.......

 

[TURKEY]

Originally posted by Disney4648
HA HA!:lol: Well thats not good news for all of you Universal and IOA fans.......

Actually that isn't bad news for US and IOA fans. Getting that loan may help Vivendi from going under.

It's only bad news for Vivendi stockholders.

 

[pheneix]

>>>HA HA! Well thats not good news for all of you Universal and IOA fans.......<<<

You really do get a kick out of creating comments about Vivendi out of thin air don't you?

BTW, Vivendi was up over 5% today. It is a weird stock, and I think I have explained why it is so volatile now, but you still can't seem to get it.

 

[Disney4648]

Originally posted by pheneix
>>>HA HA! Well thats not good news for all of you Universal and IOA fans.......<<<

You really do get a kick out of creating comments about Vivendi out of thin air don't you?

BTW, Vivendi was up over 5% today. It is a weird stock, and I think I have explained why it is so volatile now, but you still can't seem to get it.

Im not trying to be rude. I am a disney shareholder, and when you see one of its rivals do bad, then thats good. My previous comment..

..HA HA! Well thats not good news for all of you Universal and IOA fans.......<<<

was rude and im sorry, i shoudnt have posted that.

 

[pheneix]

>>>when you see one of its rivals do bad, then thats good<<<

But that is just it, Universal itself (and Disney's only real competition from Vivendi) is having stellar performance this year, despite the fact that Universal Pictures is practically sleeping this year. Unfortunately, that is overshadowed by the problems at Vivendi, and those problems outweigh any good news that comes out of Universal.

 

[TURKEY]

Originally posted by Disney4648


Im not trying to be rude. I am a disney shareholder, and when you see one of its rivals do bad, then thats good. My previous comment..was rude and im sorry, i shoudnt have posted that.

A rival doing bad doesn't mean good either. A bad performing company can drag its entire sector down any day.

 

[pheneix]

Cough... AOL... cough...

cough... Vivendi... [gag]

cough... Enron... [barfs]

 

[Disney4648]

When did Vivendi buy Universal?

 

[pheneix]

Sometime in 2000, I think.

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by pheneix
>>>when you see one of its rivals do bad, then thats good<<<

But that is just it, Universal itself (and Disney's only real competition from Vivendi) is having stellar performance this year, despite the fact that Universal Pictures is practically sleeping this year. Unfortunately, that is overshadowed by the problems at Vivendi, and those problems outweigh any good news that comes out of Universal.

I think "stellar" may be a bit of an exaggeration... While Fred Lounsberry, top sales executive at Universal Orlando (and also chairman of the Florida Commission on Tourism) may not have been speaking of Universal directly, it's obvious, that the properties of his company are included in what the article says:

Tourism better, but still lagging

While Florida tourism has improved faster than expected, it has come at the expense of steep discounts.

By MARK ALBRIGHT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 11, 2002
------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORLANDO -- After a robust Fourth of July weekend, Florida tourism is rebounding faster than many expected. But the state's biggest industry still has a long way to go.

"The recovery has been uneven, but I think we'll be back on track by 2003 and fully recovered in our international markets by 2004," said Fred Lounsberry, who is chairman of the Florida Commission on Tourism and the top sales executive at Universal Orlando. "The recovery so far however, has been at the expense of deep, deep discounting."

That was the consensus opinion among state and national travel industry leaders during a panel discussion held Wednesday at the opening of the new 1,000-room Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando.

Florida theme park attendance shot up this summer but is still lagging slightly behind last year's pace. Airlines are still flying fewer passengers in and out of Florida than last year. Shorter stays, discounting and fewer guests have depressed revenue per available room at the state's hotels by 8 to 10 percent.

But that's better than midwinter, when they were down 20 percent. And it's a vast change from last September when most Florida hotels were in the same shape as the two four-star Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando, which were 87 percent empty and lost $4-million in canceled bookings in a matter of weeks.

In the Tampa Bay area, hoteliers report their performance this summer mirrors the rest of the state.

"The leisure and consumer markets have come back faster than I expected, but the business and meetings business has not," said John Marks, general manager of the Don CeSar Beach Resort, which is running behind in occupancy rate, average daily rates and average length of stay.

"We had a good June, our first month ahead of last year since Sept. 11," said Tim Bogott, president and CEO of the TradeWinds Island Resorts. "But it's still spotty in July and advance bookings for August."

"We're running behind last year, but it's getting better," said Anthony Menna, whose Clearwater company owns three bay area hotels. His recently opened Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in the midcounty Gateway area, however, has not yet met projections so he keeps the concierge level closed most of the time.

At the Orlando panel discussion, industry leaders were optimistic about the recovery. Ten months into the war on terrorism Americans are staying closer to home, being more frugal and sticking with the family. Far more of them are driving. But they are traveling again and don't seem overly concerned about security in large crowds.

Gas prices are forecast to be stable this summer, but AAA surveys say even a 20 cent-per-gallon increase would not change people's travel plans.

On the downside, however, many Florida school districts get back in business in early August. So the summer travel binge could come to an early halt this time. Many tourist ad agencies are preparing media campaigns for markets in the Northeast and Midwest, where research uncovered schools that don't reconvene until after Labor Day.

"We're probably going to have a better summer than we thought," said Mark Brown, vice president of Club Services for the American Automobile Association. "People recognize that their chances of being involved in a terrorist attack are really quite small."

Indeed, several speakers said the recession was a bigger factor in the industry's lingering woes than travelers' fear of terrorism.

The industry, however, is lobbying heavily to keep federally imposed security restrictions at airports from making travel even more of a hassle. They also are fighting proposed new restrictions on foreigners traveling inside the United States. Excluding Canadians, about 10 percent of Florida travelers are foreigners.

Cost-conscious travelers, however, continue to wait until the last minute to book, then negotiate for the best price.

Gone are the days when travelers booked vacations a month or two before leaving. Now a third of them don't book until 10 days before departure. Last-minute travel planning even applies to European travel that once was done months ahead.

"I just booked a wedding in Ireland that's scheduled for July 28," said Kathryn Sudeikis, vice president of the executive board of the American Society of Travel Agents.

-- Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.

 

[pheneix]

>>>may not have been speaking of Universal directly, it's obvious, that the properties of his company are included in what the article says<<<

Nothing new there. I was refering to what Bob Gault said about Universal Orlando specificly, where he said that "attendance was up for the month of June, and our resorts are virtually booked for the rest of the summer."

>>>which were 87 percent empty and lost $4-million in canceled bookings in a matter of weeks.<<<

OUCH! No wonder they have been running various discounts this year.

 

[JLW11Hi]

Now I know all about how its bad for the company and the workers when profits go down because of low attendance, but I would think it would be just a bit of a relief for the CMs to have not as many people around, especially during the hectic summer season.

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by pheneix
>>>may not have been speaking of Universal directly, it's obvious, that the properties of his company are included in what the article says<<<

Nothing new there. I was refering to what Bob Gault said about Universal Orlando specificly, where he said that "attendance was up for the month of June, and our resorts are virtually booked for the rest of the summer."

>>>which were 87 percent empty and lost $4-million in canceled bookings in a matter of weeks.<<<

OUCH! No wonder they have been running various discounts this year.

My point was just that statements like these which I have also seen in other articles are not great examples of a "stellar performance". It has been suggested by some that Universal has somehow been doing great while the rest of the industry in the Orlando area isn't and that just isn't the case. By their own admission, this year and the year before it have not been their best. Not to say that it's their fault, they've been affected by circumstances that are beyond their control as has everyone else in Orlando.