Quarterly profits down at Disney

The economic slowdown has filtered through to all sectors of the economy, with entertainment company Walt Disney reporting a 13 percent decline in profits for the fourth quarter.  Disney reported net earnings of $760 million, down from $870 million in the same quarter a year ago. "Consumer confidence is the lowest we've seen in over three decades," said chief executive Robert Iger. ┬á┬á Disney reported a sharp drop in hotel bookings and the tougher advertising climate hit its television networks. ┬á┬á Disney owns the ESPN and ABC television networks as well as theme parks and resorts and earns almost 20 percent of its revenue from advertising. Ads for automobiles, electronic goods and financial services slowed down in the fourth quarter.┬á┬á Results were also hit by a bad debt charge, relating to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. ┬á┬á Iger predicted tough times ahead because of lower consumer spending. "That could impact us possibly during the holiday season but almost certainly during calendar season 2009," he said. ┬á┬á Despite the fall in profits, Disney managed to increase its overall revenue in the quarter from $8.93 billion to $9.45 billion. The parks and resorts division increased revenue by 7 percent to $3 billion, and the media networks division saw a 4 percent gain in revenue.┬á┬á Iger said Disney executives were looking to eliminate expenses, but did not specify particular divisions or whether job cuts might be involved.  ┬á┬á┬á*┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á