Writers strike hurt, but Disney's 2Q profit still climbs

"While we don't know where the marketplace will take us, we believe we're much better positioned in a difficult economic cycle than we were in the past, certainly back in 1991," Iger said.

Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Pali Research, said parks revenues were expected to be hurt for the rest of the year but said "they continue to hold up better than expected."

The results for parks at home and abroad also benefited from an Easter holiday that fell in the second quarter, the company said.

Disney reported studio revenue increased 18 percent to $1.82 billion, with box office sales boosted by "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets" and the 3-D hit "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds."

The company said its recent move to take back operation of 220 Disney Store outlets in North America from The Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. would modestly reduce profits in its consumer products division for the rest of the year.

Consumer products sales in the most recent quarter increased 10 percent to $551 million, while operating profits for that segment dropped 14 percent to $107 million.

Having control of the retail stores would help Disney sell products based on franchises from Hannah Montana to Pirates of the Caribbean, Iger said.

He said the company expected to reduce the number of stores to be closed from the 100 already announced.

"It will give us the ability to be more focused in general and basically take advantage of better locations in the marketplace," he said.

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