Los Angeles, Dec 04: The Walt Disney Co began reorganising its board of directors as it announced that federal regulators are investigating employment relationships between the company and relatives of several independent board members. The inquiry is not related to the company's finances, Disney said yesterday.
The company also lowered its fourth quarter earnings because of the dismal box-office performance of its latest animated film, "Treasure Planet," and launched a series of long-expected corporate governance moves, including the appointment of a new independent director and naming former US Sen George Mitchell as a presiding director. Disney shaved 2 cents off its already-reported earnings per share of 11 cents for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 and its full-year results, recognising a decline in the book value of "Treasure Planet."
With the restated results, Disney had quarterly net income of USD 175 million instead of the USD 222 million it reported last month. The adjustment changes its per-share earnings for the full year from 63 cents to 60 cents. Even though the film was not released until last week, the company is required to revise its latest earnings report because it has not yet filed its annual report with the Sec.

Disney said it reduced the value of the film by USD 74 million before taxes, or USD 47 million after taxes. The film earned only USD 12 million at the box office in its opening weekend and cost USD 140 million to make. Bureau Report