A good performance from its resorts boosted Disney's profits

Beating Wall Street expectations, it made a net profit of $734m (�420m) in the three months to 31 December 2005, up from $686m a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue rose to $8.9bn from the $8.7bn seen 12 months previously, the entertainment giant announced.

Disney also says it will merge its ABC Radio arm with Citadel Broadcasting.

The new firm - Citadel Communications - will become the third largest radio group in the US.

Disney will have a 52% majority stake in the business.

Weaker DVD sales

Profits at Disney's theme parks rose 51% in the quarter, helped by the success of a year long promotion to mark the 50th anniversary of the original Disneyland park in Anaheim, Los Angeles.

The Incredibles boosted results for the same period a year earlier

Disney's studio profits fell 60% during the quarter on lower box office results and home video sales compared to the same time last year.

In its first quarter to 31 December, 2004, Disney was boosted by the release of the animated film The Incredibles.

This time around, films such as Chicken Little did not do as well.

Analysts broadly welcomed the results, with Rich Greenfield of Pali Research saying that Disney was "clearly outperforming".

Last month Disney agreed a $7.4bn deal to buy Pixar, the animation firm originally behind The Incredibles and other titles including Toy Story.