Euro Disney Confirms Wider Loss Forecast

[Planogirl]

This is rather ugly. From: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/031020/euro_disney_1.html dated Monday October 20, 2003.

Euro Disney Confirms Wider Loss Forecast, but Says Figures Illegally Leaked to Newspaper

PARIS (AP) -- Euro Disney SCA confirmed a news report that its forecast results showed a sharply wider net loss for the fiscal year ending in September, but said the figures had been leaked illegally.

The company, which operates two theme parks outside Paris, issued the statement Monday in response to French newspaper Le Parisien's report Friday that the full-year loss was seen widening by 75 percent to euro58 million ($67.6 million) from euro33.1 million the previous year. The figures came from a report done for Euro Disney by the French accounting consultancy Arec.

"Euro Disney confirms that the forecasted financial results for fiscal year 2003 mentioned in the article ... were contained in internal documents and presentations prepared by the company prior to the fiscal year-end," the statement said.

"The information was illegally provided to Le Parisien," Euro Disney added.

Spokesman Pieter Boterman declined to say whether the company planned to take any disciplinary or legal action over the leak.

The company stressed that the figures were incomplete because they were compiled before the end of the fiscal year and had not yet been audited. The final full-year results will be published on schedule in November.

According to the French daily, the total number of visitors to the two parks, Magic Kingdom and Walt Disney Studios, fell to 12.5 million -- down almost 5 percent compared to the previous year. The paper said the Arec report partly blamed the decline on falling foreign visitor numbers due to the Iraq war and the outbreak of SARS.

But it also said the company's forecast of 14.5 million visitors had been too optimistic, and pointed to the crippling interest payments on its euro2.1-billion ($2.45-billion) debt as another contributing factor.

The Walt Disney Co. has a 39 percent stake in Euro Disney and controls its management.

Euro Disney had already warned on July 31 that it might default on scheduled debt repayments for the first time in nine years after a sharp decline in tourist numbers.

 

[jlambrig]

This isn't good but I saw on CBS marketwatch that

"Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is in talks with the group to help refinance its debt of more than 2.2 billion euros, The Times said, citing a spokesman for the prince."

The Prince already owns 17% of ED. They should get him him to buy Disney's 34% stake as well.