Darkbeer
01-31-2003, 01:04 AM
The following are highlights from the quarterly investors phone call held by the Walt Disney Company on January 30th, 2003.
You can listen to the entire call by accessing this link (http://disney.go.com/corporate/investors/events/earnings_calls.html).
Also, I will by no means talk about the entire call. First off, the first half of the call basically deals with the press release, which is available at the link above. I also only will report on selected questions. I am focusing on the theme park division, with other tidbits that I think you might find interesting. Please listen to the entire call if you want the full information
On the phone call are Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Tom Staggs
Michael starts the call with general comments.
One of his comments dealt with the potential of Hong Kong and Asia in general.
Then Tom Staggs - talked about the current results.
Highlight of the quarter was the Theme Park division.
WDW hotels, both occupancy and average rate went up by "single digits".
12% attendance increase at the DLR, better than WDW
Enhancements to DCA, A Bug's Land and increased marketing efforts
Per capita spending and hotel occupancy was up in high single digits at the DLR.
Advance bookings are down for the parks (hotels) at both WDW and DLR.
Merchandising did well, thanks in part to Digimon and Power Rangers.
Bob Iger -took to the phone and talked about current areas of focus.
Theme Parks, capitalize on investments. DLR focusing on longer length of stays, and a new marketing theme "A Whole New World".
Next he talks about "Destination Disney" in regards to WDW.
75% of visitors going to WDW are repeat visitors.
30% of WDW visitors have admission tickets (multi-day) prior to arrival, which equates to over half of all admissions at WDW. These pre-paid guests committed to staying at Disney equals about two extra days by prepaying. Which keeps them on property, instead of visiting the competition.
They want to get more folks to prepay, to capitalize on the extra days.
ESPN had 18 of the top 20 shows on Basic Cable in 2002.
Now comes the Question and Answer segment, Stock Analysts ask Michael, Tom and Bob questions.
The first question was addressed to Michael, and how the company was going to achieve the 25% to 35% growth he has predicted.
Michael's key points were...
Theme Parks, continuing growth
Cable and Media Networks, strong, ESPN "is awesome"
Consumer Products, Princess line
ABC, turned the tide, on top of the Reality craze
Studios, unpredictable, protected on the downside (no very expensive movies)
Another question dealt with Commercial sales for the TV group
Bob -states that the advertising market is extremely strong.
Q: How will the War on Iraq effect the company?
Bob- no substantial impact on the advertising market, the biggest issue is the lack of advertising for extended news coverage, but not too concerned about it.
Theme Parks, already seeing the impact; lack of long term booking, short term hotel booking is running 14-30 day range.
Q: Could you isolate the individual cable networks profits
Tom - down at ESPN and ABC Family due to sports fees
Q: Could you discuss Reality vs Traditional TV programing
Bob - reality is less expensive, but wants a blended schedule, to offer all 4 segments - Scripted programming, Sports, News and Reality. Reality will be strong, but not overpowering, both in the summer, and next fall.
Q: Asks about the Pooh litigation and Pixar
Michael - Pixar "Status quo" "Optisimic... but can't say it's a slam dunk"
Disney General council answers the Pooh question -
"No significant developments", Disney will be filing a new motion this next week, still trying to settle.
Q: Regarding the NFL contract and the option period
A: NFL has the right to opt-out, Eisner got the feel that the NFL will let the last three years "happen" (as per the original contract), the fees will be similar, but slightly higher.
Q: Dealt with the Practice and the move to Mondays and the need for make goods.
A: Goal was to not have three new shows, but to have one "anchor" (old show). Way too early to tell if it was a good move/bad move.
Q: A general question regarding the Consumer Products division, and the outlook.
Tom - pleased with most things (good comments about Kingdom Hearts), exception is the softness of the Disney Stores
Q: Additions to Theme Parks in the next two years, and what the capital expenditures will be
Tom - Less than $1 billion a year for all the theme parks, which includes work on current attractions, plus adding new attractions.
Michael - New Mission Space Pavilion, ToT at DCA, rest of the additions are relatively small "and I don't want to go into that right now".
Q: Cruise ship and the impact the Norwalk Virus had.
A: Modest Impact last quarter, there is no current major impact.
Once again, this is just selected comments, please refer to the link at top of the page for the entire phone call.
You can listen to the entire call by accessing this link (http://disney.go.com/corporate/investors/events/earnings_calls.html).
Also, I will by no means talk about the entire call. First off, the first half of the call basically deals with the press release, which is available at the link above. I also only will report on selected questions. I am focusing on the theme park division, with other tidbits that I think you might find interesting. Please listen to the entire call if you want the full information
On the phone call are Michael Eisner, Bob Iger, Tom Staggs
Michael starts the call with general comments.
One of his comments dealt with the potential of Hong Kong and Asia in general.
Then Tom Staggs - talked about the current results.
Highlight of the quarter was the Theme Park division.
WDW hotels, both occupancy and average rate went up by "single digits".
12% attendance increase at the DLR, better than WDW
Enhancements to DCA, A Bug's Land and increased marketing efforts
Per capita spending and hotel occupancy was up in high single digits at the DLR.
Advance bookings are down for the parks (hotels) at both WDW and DLR.
Merchandising did well, thanks in part to Digimon and Power Rangers.
Bob Iger -took to the phone and talked about current areas of focus.
Theme Parks, capitalize on investments. DLR focusing on longer length of stays, and a new marketing theme "A Whole New World".
Next he talks about "Destination Disney" in regards to WDW.
75% of visitors going to WDW are repeat visitors.
30% of WDW visitors have admission tickets (multi-day) prior to arrival, which equates to over half of all admissions at WDW. These pre-paid guests committed to staying at Disney equals about two extra days by prepaying. Which keeps them on property, instead of visiting the competition.
They want to get more folks to prepay, to capitalize on the extra days.
ESPN had 18 of the top 20 shows on Basic Cable in 2002.
Now comes the Question and Answer segment, Stock Analysts ask Michael, Tom and Bob questions.
The first question was addressed to Michael, and how the company was going to achieve the 25% to 35% growth he has predicted.
Michael's key points were...
Theme Parks, continuing growth
Cable and Media Networks, strong, ESPN "is awesome"
Consumer Products, Princess line
ABC, turned the tide, on top of the Reality craze
Studios, unpredictable, protected on the downside (no very expensive movies)
Another question dealt with Commercial sales for the TV group
Bob -states that the advertising market is extremely strong.
Q: How will the War on Iraq effect the company?
Bob- no substantial impact on the advertising market, the biggest issue is the lack of advertising for extended news coverage, but not too concerned about it.
Theme Parks, already seeing the impact; lack of long term booking, short term hotel booking is running 14-30 day range.
Q: Could you isolate the individual cable networks profits
Tom - down at ESPN and ABC Family due to sports fees
Q: Could you discuss Reality vs Traditional TV programing
Bob - reality is less expensive, but wants a blended schedule, to offer all 4 segments - Scripted programming, Sports, News and Reality. Reality will be strong, but not overpowering, both in the summer, and next fall.
Q: Asks about the Pooh litigation and Pixar
Michael - Pixar "Status quo" "Optisimic... but can't say it's a slam dunk"
Disney General council answers the Pooh question -
"No significant developments", Disney will be filing a new motion this next week, still trying to settle.
Q: Regarding the NFL contract and the option period
A: NFL has the right to opt-out, Eisner got the feel that the NFL will let the last three years "happen" (as per the original contract), the fees will be similar, but slightly higher.
Q: Dealt with the Practice and the move to Mondays and the need for make goods.
A: Goal was to not have three new shows, but to have one "anchor" (old show). Way too early to tell if it was a good move/bad move.
Q: A general question regarding the Consumer Products division, and the outlook.
Tom - pleased with most things (good comments about Kingdom Hearts), exception is the softness of the Disney Stores
Q: Additions to Theme Parks in the next two years, and what the capital expenditures will be
Tom - Less than $1 billion a year for all the theme parks, which includes work on current attractions, plus adding new attractions.
Michael - New Mission Space Pavilion, ToT at DCA, rest of the additions are relatively small "and I don't want to go into that right now".
Q: Cruise ship and the impact the Norwalk Virus had.
A: Modest Impact last quarter, there is no current major impact.
Once again, this is just selected comments, please refer to the link at top of the page for the entire phone call.