Despite reporting a two per cent decrease in revenue for the last quarter, Walt Disney is showing improvement post-September 11.

Parks and resorts revenue fell by 8 per cent to $1.5 billion in the quarter to March 31 this year, however, this is an improvement on the last three months of 2001 when revenue decreased by 17 per cent.

Attendance at the parks has been decreasing since early last year, worsening as a result of the continued disruption in travel and tourism since September 11. However, the introduction of Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, whose opening costs were met in the previous quarter, have increased attendance at the Disneyland Resort.

Extra revenue has also been generated by royalties from increased visitor numbers at the Tokyo Disney Resort, following the opening of the Tokyo DisneySea theme park and Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta in 2001.

The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida continues to suffer lower attendance, guest spending and hotel occupancy, though Disney CEO Michael Eisner claims that the company is seeing 'encouraging signs in its parks and resorts unit.'

The biggest drain on the company is its ABC television network, where low ratings as a due to a lack of popular evening programmes have led to a dramatic fall in advertising. Details: +44 (0)20 8222 1000 or www.disney.com