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Article: Meltdown at the cultural Chernobyl. (Euro Disney)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- February 5, 1994
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN THE months before the gates to the French version of the Magic Kingdom swung wide in April 1992, Euro Disney looked as radiant as any Disney heroine. Its shares were soaring; its bosses were forecasting profits of hundreds of millions of francs; its 49% owner, Walt Disney, called the resort "its most important commitment to a single new venture outside the United States for the remainder of the century."
Less than two years later, beauty has become the beast. On February 2nd Euro Disney reported a net loss of FFr553m ($95m) in the quarter ending last December; in the year to last September, it lost a staggering FFr5.3 billion. Crushed by the weight of ...