Disney restructuring costs drag on quarterly profit

Earnings slip to $844 million from $845 million a year earlier. But excluding one-time items, profit of 47 cents a share beats analysts’ average estimate of 38 cents. Revenue rises 1%.

Walt Disney Co., its bottom line dragged down by restructuring costs, reported a modest drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit.

The Burbank entertainment giant reported net income of $844 million, or 44 cents a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 2, compared with earnings of $845 million, or 45 cents, from the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 1% to $9.7 billion.

Excluding one-time items, earnings of 47 cents a share beat analysts’ average estimate of 38 cents.

The company’s flagship Media Networks group, which includes the ABC broadcast network and cable channels ESPN and Disney Channel, posted an 11% rise in operating income for the quarter to $724 million from $655 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to $4.2 billion from $3.9 billion.

Analysts had been expecting modest first-quarter results for Disney’s television group. However, worldwide growth of the Disney Channel and higher affiliate and advertising fees at ESPN helped drive a 5% gain in operating income for the cable networks, which rose to $544 million for the quarter, up from $517 million a year earlier.

The broadcasting group, which includes ABC and local TV stations, posted a 30% jump in operating income to $180 million, up from $138 million a year earlier. The previous year’s results included a bad-debt charge associated with the bankruptcy of Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times.

Theme parks reported a 2% drop in operating income to $375 million, from $382 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue remained essentially flat at $2.7 billion. The domestic parks saw a boost in attendance, benefiting in part from a shift of the New Year’s holiday from the fiscal second quarter to the first. But attendance was off at Disneyland Paris.

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Photo Shizuo Kambayashi / Associated Press

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