LOS ANGELES - The company that Mickey built owes much of its recent success to its slew of cable and television brands, including ESPN and its "High School Musical" and "Hanna Montana" franchises.
The Walt Disney Co. reported Tuesday that its first-quarter profit fell 26 percent from a year earlier, when it benefited from the sale of a magazine and entertainment channel.
The Burbank-based media conglomerate's results beat Wall Street estimates, however, as it posted a 9 percent jump in revenue across nearly all of its business units, led by its media networks division.
Disney shares gained nearly 6 percent in extended trading after the results were released.
Robert Iger, Disney's president and chief executive officer, credited the company's focus on developing brands and producing content across its various media and theme park properties.
"Five years ago we could count upon only two major franchises, and today we have 10 vibrant, creative properties," Iger said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts, noting the success of "Hannah Montana" and its star, Miley Cyrus.
A 3-D Cyrus concert film raked in $31.1 million over the weekend, the most by any film during Super Bowl weekend.
For the fiscal first quarter that ended Dec. 29, Disney reported net income of $1.25 billion, or 63 cents per share, compared with $1.70 billion, or 79 cents per share, in the prior-year period.
Prior-year results included gains from the company's sale of its shares in US Weekly magazine and the E! Entertainment channel and the discontinuation of its ABC Radio business.
Excluding the one-time items, earnings grew 29 percent to 63 cents per share from 49 cents in the prior-year period.
Revenue grew to $10.45 billion compared with $9.58 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 52 cents per share on revenue of $10.04 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Revenue at the company's media networks unit, which includes the Disney Channel and ESPN, jumped 10 percent to $4.17 billion, while operating income climbed 28 percent to $908 million.
Leading the segment were the ABC Family Channel, which benefited from savings in programming costs and higher advertising and affiliate revenue, and domestic Disney channels, which saw strong DVD sales of "High School Musical 2," the company said.
ESPN saw increases in advertising and affiliate revenues, largely due to NASCAR programming.
Disney's theme parks and resorts generated $2.77 billion in revenue, an 11 percent increase from the prior-year quarter. Operating income for the unit surged 25 percent to $505 million, led by increased guest spending and attendance at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort in Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
Overall attendance at Disney's domestic parks was up 3 percent compared with the prior-year period, the company said.
Iger noted that the ongoing Hollywood writers strike did not have a significant impact on the first quarter.
"We are hopeful an agreement will be reached soon and the writers will return to work," he said.
Hollywood writers have been on strike for three months, forcing many TV shows to suspend production.
Negotiations between the writers union and studio executives appeared to be making progress in recent days, fueling speculation an agreement could be reached as early as this week.
Management noted that even if there is a settlement soon and writers return to work, the company will be making fewer TV show pilots this year than in previous years. That should lead to some costs savings but also some revenue losses because the company will have fewer shows to sell, the company said.
Shares of Disney gained $1.71, or 5.7 percent, in after-hours trading. Before the results were released, the stock fell 83 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close at $30.07.
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