Originally Posted By pheneix You also have to look at it from this point of view: The drop in profit in this case does not mean that there was a drop in earnings, it just means that OLC spent a lot of their profit for the year on building a major expansion. Since earnings will most likely increase by an insane margin this year (and profits as well), I doubt the investors are worried. And remember, this is Japan, where investors probably do a little more research beyond the highlights of a companies annual report.
Originally Posted By OrlandoBoi And where the long term view is more respected than "this quarter". THAT more than ANYTHING is what is killing Disney in the US.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I disagree, Orlando - Disney is taking the long term view with the capital outlays they have made in the last five or six years. Now, Disney has distribution channels for their merchandise that are the envy of the rest of the entertainment industry. They obviously have to restrain expenses while these outlays are being paid for, but because of the recent expansion Disney has positioned themselves very well.
Originally Posted By pheneix Um, Tom, I think he was refering to the statement I made about Japanese investors. >>>Now, Disney has distribution channels for their merchandise that are the envy of the rest of the entertainment industry.<<< And where is the merchendise? The most I have seen outside of Disney theme parks and stores (and the stores don't have much at all anymore) is a Pooh shirt at Wal-Mart. And don't get me started about the K-Mart deal... >>>because of the recent expansion Disney has positioned themselves very well.<<< Yes, a majority of their networks are the lowest rated on TV, their studios are one of, if not the, worst of the major companies operating today, and their parks are going no where fast. They are very well positioned indeed.
Originally Posted By WEDWAY100 << The drop in profit in this case does not mean that there was a drop in earnings, it just means that OLC spent a lot of their profit for the year on building a major expansion. Since earnings will most likely increase by an insane margin this year (and profits as well), I doubt the investors are worried. >> That will happen only if OLC paid for all (or a very large piece) of TDS this year. I'm not sure about this, but I would guess that they took on some debt to finance TDS. If so, and the debt load is as high next year as it was this year, the profits will be down again. If this continues year after year, investors will sell and OLC will have to deal with that. If it was more short term debt, and it's well on its way to being paid off, then the profits will go up sharply, and investors won't be able to get enough. Don't get me wrong, I really want TDS and the OLC to succeed, but I think it's overly optimistic to pronounce it a success right now, as was my interpretation of some of the earlier posts in this thread. I also agree that looking at the quarterly numbers is short sighted, and is one of the problems facing Disney when they choose to make investments in the future in the US. I have several opinions about why we in the US have developed this short sighted view of investing, but that's probably for another board.
Originally Posted By WEDWAY100 Sorry, I should have said that I believe it is overly optimistic to pronounce TDS a FINANCIAL success right now. It appears to be an artistic and popular success already
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I'm prepared to say that TDSea is a financial success...look at it this way: the OLC knew how much money they spent on the park, how long it would take to recoup their investment. They make projections, based on attendance, spending in the park, etc. From what I've heard, they are smashing any and all of those projections. So TDSea is a winner on all counts, be it popular, artistic, or financial. It would take a major disaster [earthquake devistates the resort; Japan goes into a depression, etc.] for the OLC's park to "fail."
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Japan already IS in a major depression and as for the earthquake, GOD FORBIDS my darling resort would ever be devasted by that! Hail Fathers and Holly Marys everyone.
Originally Posted By ThreeCircles Just a small point here. While the OLC did put up all of the capital for Disney Sea, that was not the case for Tokyo Disneyland. The Walt Disney Company owns a 43% stake in that park, similar to the Paris parks. The Disney Co. makes money from Tokyo Disney Sea from the licensing aspect, as stated earlier. So, with that said, I wonder if this was a good financial decision on Disney's part. Universal is builing a European park and 100% will be owned by that company. I wonder if Disney regrets not wholly owning it's over-seas parks.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Is Japan in an actual depreession, or just a recession? To be honest, I don't know squat about economics, and don't know what the differences are between them. Where is the line drawn? I do know that Japan is not the economic powerhouse it once was, and that their economy has struggled in the past decade. The TDR is fortunate in that, unlike WDW [and to a lesser extent DL], it is situated in a HUGE urban area, and the entire population of Japan is within a few hours of the resort. So it's not a major expenditure for most Japanese to visit the TDR, even in poor economic times.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN OOOPS!! My mistake Russ, i meant recession. But trust me, we have seen a drop in the number of japanese travelers in my airline, so that has actually helped the theme park business in Japan as more people has stayed home instead of traveling abroad. Even Universal in Osaka is seeing big attendance numbers in the region. ThreeCircles, are you sure about the WDC owning 43% in TDLand? I mean, i am not knowledgable about that, but it's the first time i hear someone say that. I know WDC's stake in EuroDisney Co. is around that number, but i thought that WDC only got around 10% royalties off TDL's admission media and merchandise. Again i am not that knowledgable in that dept.
Originally Posted By ThreeCircles My apologies TDLFAN and everyone! TWDC has 43% ownership of Hong Kong Disneyland. Disney only has license agreements with OLC for BOTH Tokyo parks. Again, apologies all around! BTW, this info is found in the Disney Investors Fact Book online at Disney.com.
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I don't believe Tokyo Disneyland really exists. Ya'll are just making it up.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN I don't believe Tokyo Disneyland exist either. It is just WAY TOO PERFECT to be real, which, lucky for the japanese and some of us gaigins, IT IS!
