Eisner fights on as Pixar slows

INVESTORS may have rediscovered the magic of Walt Disney but chief executive Michael Eisner is still being pummelled by dissident shareholders and by Steve Jobs, boss of Disney's soon-to-be ex-partner Pixar Animation.

Pixar today said net profit fell to $55.2m (£27.9m) from $83.9m on the corresponding quarter last year. Sales dropped 34% to $108.9m from $164.8m as box-office receipts for the firm's latest offering The Incredibles fell short of 2004's hit Finding Nemo.

Jobs, who is waiting to see who replaces Eisner before committing to a new distribution partner for Pixar's animated films, took a jab at the Disney chief. Responding to Eisner's comment last week that computer animation of human figures is 'pathetic', he said: 'We just wrote that off to Michael being a loose cannon.'

Eisner will face calls for his resignation at the company's annual meeting today. Activist pension fund Calpers wants him out, and other dissidents wonder why no outside candidates have yet been interviewed for the job.

But he will be confident he can ride out any problems because the company's share price has risen from about $20 to almost $30 in the past 12 months.