The Walt Disney Company Reports Second Quarter Earnings

“The incredible box office performance of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and acquisition of Marvel, whose Iron Man 2 has grossed $334 million in global box office in its first two weeks, clearly show the benefits of investing in high quality branded content”

The current quarter included restructuring and impairment charges, a gain on the sale of an investment in a pay television service in Central Europe, and an accounting gain related to the acquisition of the Disney Stores in Japan, which collectively had no net impact on EPS. The prior-year quarter included restructuring and impairment charges which had a $0.10 per share impact on EPS.

For the six month period, diluted EPS was $0.93 compared to $0.78 in the prior-year period. In addition to the items discussed above, EPS for the current six months included restructuring and impairment charges and a gain on the sale of an investment in a television service in Europe which were recorded in the first quarter of the current year while the prior-year period included a gain on the sale of our investment in two pay television services in Latin America. Excluding these items, EPS increased 12% to $0.95 from $0.85 in the prior-year six months.

“The incredible box office performance of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and acquisition of Marvel, whose Iron Man 2 has grossed $334 million in global box office in its first two weeks, clearly show the benefits of investing in high quality branded content,” said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company. “With the economy showing signs of improvement, we’re confident our strategy is the right one to provide consumers the best in entertainment while building long-term value for our shareholders.”

The following table summarizes the second quarter and six-month results for fiscal 2010 and 2009 (in millions, except per share amounts):

SEGMENT RESULTS

The following table summarizes the second quarter and six-month segment operating results for fiscal 2010 and 2009 (in millions):

Media Networks

Media Networks revenues for the quarter increased 6% to $3.8 billion and segment operating income was flat at $1.3 billion. The following table provides further detail of the Media Networks results (in millions):

Cable Networks

Operating income at Cable Networks increased $39 million to $1.2 billion for the quarter driven by an increase at ESPN due to higher affiliate revenue and, to a lesser extent, advertising revenue, partially offset by higher programming costs. The increase in affiliate revenue was due to higher contractual rates and subscriber growth, which was driven by the launch of a new network in the United Kingdom, while higher advertising revenue was due to an increase in sold inventory, partially offset by lower ratings. Higher programming and production costs reflected costs for soccer programming rights for the new network in the United Kingdom and higher contractual costs for college basketball and NBA programming. At the worldwide Disney Channels higher affiliate and advertising revenues were offset by higher programming costs and sales and distribution expenses.

Broadcasting

Operating income at Broadcasting decreased $39 million to $123 million for the quarter primarily due to decreased primetime and news advertising revenues at the ABC Television Network, higher production cost amortization related to sales of ABC Studios productions and higher primetime programming costs. These decreases were partially offset by higher advertising revenues at the owned television stations and lower bad debt expense driven by recoveries of previously reserved syndication customer receivables. The decrease in advertising revenues at the ABC Television Network was driven by lower ratings, partially offset by higher rates and sold inventory.

Parks and Resorts

Parks and Resorts revenues for the quarter increased 2% to $2.4 billion and segment operating income decreased 12% to $150 million. Results for the quarter were driven by a decrease at Disney Cruise Line due to higher fuel costs and promotional activity.

Operating income at our domestic parks was essentially flat as higher guest spending was offset by decreased attendance and occupied room nights and higher costs. Higher guest spending was primarily due to higher average ticket prices. Increased costs reflected labor and other cost inflation and higher pension and postretirement medical costs, partially offset by lower volume-related costs and savings from cost mitigation activities. Decreased attendance in part reflected an unfavorable net impact due to a shift in the timing of the New Year’s and Easter holiday periods relative to our fiscal periods.

Results at our international operations were essentially flat as increased attendance and hotel occupancy at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort was offset by decreased attendance and lower hotel occupancy at Disneyland Paris.

Studio Entertainment

Studio Entertainment revenues for the quarter increased 7% to $1.5 billion and segment operating income increased $210 million to $223 million. Higher operating income was primarily due to an increase in worldwide theatrical distribution.

The increase in worldwide theatrical distribution was primarily due to the strong performance of Alice in Wonderland in the current quarter, compared to Confessions of a Shopaholic and Race to Witch Mountain in the prior-year quarter, and lower distribution expense for future releases in the domestic market.

Consumer Products

Consumer Products revenues for the quarter increased 20% to $596 million and segment operating income increased 37% to $133 million.

The increase in segment operating income reflected growth at Merchandise Licensing, an increase at Publishing driven by Marvel titles, and improvement at our retail business driven by higher comparable store sales at the Disney Stores North America. The increase at Merchandise Licensing was driven by higher earned revenue led by the strong performance of Toy Story and Marvel merchandise, partially offset by amortization of Marvel acquisition intangible assets.

Interactive Media

Interactive Media revenues for the quarter increased 20% to $155 million and operating results improved from a loss of $61 million in the prior-year quarter to a loss of $55 million in the current quarter.

Improved operating results reflected higher Club Penguin subscription revenues and lower video game inventory costs, partially offset by higher internet product development and sales and marketing costs.

OTHER FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Restructuring and Impairment Charges

The Company recorded $71 million of restructuring and impairment charges in the current quarter primarily related to the closure of a Studio production facility.

Net Interest Expense

Net interest expense was as follows (in millions):

The decrease in interest expense for the quarter was primarily due to lower effective interest rates, partially offset by expense related to the early redemption of a film financing borrowing.

The decrease in interest and investment income was primarily due to lower effective interest rates.

Income Taxes

The effective income tax rate for the current quarter was 35.0% compared to 34.8% in the prior-year quarter. The current quarter included a charge to reflect the loss of a tax benefit related to Medicare Part D subsidies as a result of the recently enacted healthcare reform legislation and a benefit from the favorable resolution of certain prior-year tax matters.

Cash Flow

Cash provided by operations and free cash flow were as follows (in millions):

The increase in cash provided by operations was driven by higher segment operating results.

The increase in capital expenditures reflected the expansion at Disney's California Adventure and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, the construction of a Disney Vacation Club Resort in Hawaii and higher construction progress payments on two new cruise ships. These increases were partially offset by decreased spending on broadcast and production facilities.

Capital Expenditures and Depreciation Expense

Investments in parks, resorts and other property by segment were as follows (in millions):

Borrowings

Total borrowings and net borrowings are detailed below (in millions):

The total borrowings shown above include $2,639 million and $2,868 million attributable to Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort as of April 3, 2010 and October 3, 2009, respectively. Cash and cash equivalents attributable to Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort totaled $527 million and $606 million as of April 3, 2010 and October 3, 2009, respectively.

Earnings per share excluding certain items – The Company uses earnings per share excluding certain items to evaluate the performance of the Company’s operations exclusive of certain items that impact the comparability of results from period to period. In the current quarter, these items included restructuring and impairment charges, a gain on the sale of an investment in a pay television service in Central Europe, and an accounting gain related to the acquisition of the Disney Stores in Japan. In the prior-year quarter, we excluded restructuring and impairment charges. The Company believes that information about earnings per share exclusive of these impacts is useful to investors, particularly where the impact of the excluded items is significant in relation to reported earnings, because the measure allows for comparability between periods of the operating performance of the Company’s business and allows investors to evaluate the impact of these items separately from the impact of the operations of the business. The following table reconciles reported earnings per share to earnings per share excluding certain items:

Net borrowings – The Company believes that information about net borrowings provides investors with a useful perspective on our financial condition. Net borrowings reflect the subtraction of cash and cash equivalents from total borrowings. Since we earn interest income on our cash balances that offsets a portion of the interest expense we pay on our borrowings, net borrowings can be used as a measure to gauge net interest expense. In addition, a portion of our cash and cash equivalents is available to repay outstanding indebtedness when the indebtedness matures or when other circumstances arise. However, we may not immediately apply cash and cash equivalents to the reduction of debt, nor do we expect that we would use all of our available cash and cash equivalents to repay debt in the ordinary course of business.

Free cash flow – The Company uses free cash flow (cash provided by operations less investments in parks, resorts and other property), among other measures, to evaluate the ability of its operations to generate cash that is available for purposes other than capital expenditures. Management believes that information about free cash flow provides investors with an important perspective on the cash available to service debt, make strategic acquisitions and investments and pay dividends or repurchase shares.

Aggregate segment operating income – The Company evaluates the performance of its operating segments based on segment operating income, and management uses aggregate segment operating income as a measure of the performance of operating businesses separate from non-operating factors. The Company believes that information about aggregate segment operating income assists investors by allowing them to evaluate changes in the operating results of the Company’s portfolio of businesses separate from non-operational factors that affect net income, thus providing separate insight into both operations and the other factors that affect reported results.

A reconciliation of segment operating income to net income is as follows (in millions):