Disney ponders second Paris park

EURO DISNEY, the French theme park 39 per cent-owned by Walt Disney Company, is considering a second park at the Paris site. It has launched a pilot scheme for a park celebrating television and cinema, and has begun talks with the French authorities. Work could start at the end of 1999 with the site opening at the start of 2002. It would represent a Ffr4bn (pounds 426m) investment and create 5,000 direct or indirect jobs. But analysts were sceptical: "Will banks finance a new park when the first one isn't sorted out?" said Nigel Reed, analyst at Paribas Capital Markets.

The news came as Walt Disney announced lower-than-expected first-quarter results showing an 18 per cent profit fall to $622m (pounds 377m) due to poorer figures from home video, Disney stores and licensing.