Disney Italy CEO sees growth in 2010 -report

MILAN Feb 10 (Reuters) - Sales at Walt Disney (DIS.N) stores in Italy have picked up in the first months of 2010 after Christmas, and Disney Italy Chief Executive Cecilia Tosting expects growth this year, she told an Italian newspaper.

Walt Disney on Tuesday reported better-than-expected earnings, helped by a strong performance at its cable division and cost-cuts at its film studio but clouds remained over its theme parks. [ID:nN09114719]

"We expect 2010 to be a year of growth, because we have signals in that direction especially in sectors where we have direct contact with the public such as sales points," Tosting told Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview published on Wednesday.

Tosting said Disney has 16 stores in Italy, its second-biggest European market, and was planning to open another two by the end of 2010 "with a plan for further growth in successive years."

"Revenues at sales points continue to be good even if Christmas started slowly, but then there was an acceleration that continued in the first months of 2010," she said. (Editing by Hans Peters)