Disney profit up, shares rise

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) posted a 17.8 percent increase in quarterly earnings and better-than-expected revenue, boosted by an improving ad climate and strength in the media giant's cable operations.

Shares of Disney -- which earlier announced its finance chief, Tom Staggs, and the head of its parks division, Jay Rasulo, will soon swap jobs -- rose 4.3 percent to $30.30 (18.26 pounds) after closing at $29.05 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Net income in the fiscal fourth quarter, ended October 3, was $895 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with $760 million, or 40 cents a share, in the year-ago fourth quarter.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 4.5 percent to $9.867 billion from $9.445 billion a year ago and beat the $9.28 billion expected on average by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Susan Zeidler; Editing by Gary Hill)