EURO DISNEY RESTRUCTURING DEAL STALLED
PARIS, France - 08/05/04 - Some lenders are balking at Euro Disney's announced plans for a financial restructuring, the theme park company said on Monday as it reported that attendance at its two parks east of Paris had declined this spring.
The company, which is controlled by the Burbank-based Walt Disney Co., warned again that it would not be able to pay its debts if the restructuring was not approved. It said lenders had agreed to continue negotiating with a new deadline of September 30, and had left open the possibility that the restructuring might be revised.
The restructuring announced in June calls for little in the way of sacrifices from bank lenders, who were asked to delay some principal payments for several years but not to reduce interest payments. Unanimous approval of the lenders is needed, but it appears that some banks are holding out for a better deal, perhaps hoping that the American parent will agree to buy them out.
Andre Lacroix, the chairman and chief executive, said that Euro Disney had turned in "a relatively strong performance in an otherwise soft market for European travel and tourism." The company said attendance was hurt by fewer midweek holidays in May this year compared with previous years.
The June quarter last year was weak, with revenue down 11.7% from a year earlier. At that time, Euro Disney blamed strikes and work slowdowns in France, weak tourism and the difficult comparison caused by the opening of another Disney park next to Disneyland Paris in March 2002.
The summer quarter that begins in July is generally Euro Disney's most important.
Last year, theme park revenue fell 11.5% in that quarter, which the company attributed to a weak European economy and an August heat wave.
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