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Pirates of the Caribbean doubles quarterly profits at Disney

The popularity of Johnny Depp and the British actor Orlando Bloom helped Walt Disney more than double its quarterly profits as DVDs of the second instalment of their Pirates of the Caribbean series flew off shop shelves.

Disney announced last night that its profits for the three months to December leapt by 145%, rising from $734m (£379m) to $1.7bn. The Los Angeles-based company has enjoyed a remarkable run of financial success - its shares were among Wall Street's top performers last year with a rise of more than 40%.

Disney accounted for the two top selling DVDs of the year - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and the animated feature film Cars, which was made by the group's Pixar studio.

Chief executive Bob Iger said: "These results are particularly gratifying given the great year we had in 2006 and are another clear sign our strategy is driving growth and creating shareholder value."

Disney's Hollywood film division was responsible for the bulk of the improved profits. The movie-making arm's earnings rocketed from $128m to $604m.

But there were also higher profits from Disney's ABC television network in America, driven by dramas such as Grey's Anatomy and Lost.

Tuna Amobi, an analyst at Standard & Poor's, said: "Disney had a particularly good summer and holiday season. Pixar is now in the mix and has a lot to do with the film studio's performance."

There was a negative note, however, on Disney's new theme park in Hong Kong, which opened in September 2005 but has already suffered a decline in attendance.

http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/G ... 21,00.html