LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Michael Eisner Thursday said the company's operations are running pretty much in line with forecasts made at recent analyst and annual meetings. advertisement
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"I think we're pretty much where we said we'd be. There are no major changes from what I talked about ... at the annual meeting," Eisner said during a question and answer session at a Credit Suisse First Boston meeting that was Webcast.Eisner said the theme parks continue to gain momentum as national and international economies pick up steam, and the company's film studio division looks strong with a slate of new movies coming out including big budget film "The Alamo." The company held its annual meeting in March and a financial analyst and investor conference in February. In the past, it has said it expects double-digit earnings growth through 2007, including more than 30 percent this year. Theme parks head Jay Rasulo said Disney has not seen any development in bookings following the recent bombing in Spain that would make it change its long-term outlook. "We don't have any long-term reason to believe it changes anything under way," Rasulo said. Disney and its top managers, including Eisner and President Bob Iger, are under pressure from some shareholders who claim they have mismanaged the company. In one area, they argue Disney's television network ABC has underperformed its peers. Eisner and Iger said it was too soon to talk about ABC's coming fall shows, which will be announced in May. But they did acknowledge past problems at ABC, and said much of the problem was that momentum from new shows in the fall did not carry over into the second half of the season. "The process of having a good fall schedule has been there, we just haven't sustained it," Eisner said. Iger said ABC may begin launching more shows on an annual basis, not only in the fall or winter. He said he was "bullish" about advertising sales for May's upfront advertising market where TV ad time is pre-sold for the new season. Meanwhile, Eisner said he was enjoying being only chief executive officer after having stepped down as chairman in March. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell is now chairman. "Frankly I'm going back to work, not micro-managing ... micro-managing is too detailed a word, but I am going back to work with many people in the company," he said. Finally, he said Disney may look to get more deeply involved in the video game business when its top executives and board get together in upcoming strategy meetings. © Reuters 2004. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. | MORE FROM U.S. BUSINESS NEWS |
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