Disney Posts Record Profits for Quarter, Year : Entertainment: Company attributes results largely to “The Lion King.” Separately, Sidney Poitier is named to its board.

Despite lingering problems with its theme parks, Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday posted record profits of $225.9 million for a fourth quarter and $1.1 billion in the fiscal year thanks to the box-office smash “The Lion King,” videocassette sales of its animated hits and continuing demand for its merchandise.

In a separate announcement, Disney named Oscar-winning actor and director Sidney Poitier to its board. Poitier will serve out the term that had been held by the late Disney President Frank G. Wells, who died in a helicopter crash in April. The term runs out in February.

Disney’s results in the quarter ended Sept. 30 matched or exceeded most estimates by analysts, some of whom turned much more bullish on its stock Monday after the results were announced. Smith Barney analyst Jill S. Krutick upgraded her recommendation on Disney’s stock to “buy” from “neutral,” saying she was encouraged in part by what she believes is a bottoming out of the decline in theme park attendance.

Shares in the Burbank-based company closed at $43, up 62.5 cents, in New York Stock Exchange trading on Tuesday.

“We’ve been a longtime bear on Disney, and have changed to a much more positive stance,” Krutick said.

The more bullish views come despite nine months of executive suite turmoil for the company, marked by the death of Wells and the bitter departure of studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg after a rift with Chairman Michael D. Eisner.

Disney’s overall results are clearly improved from a year ago when the company was hammered by losses from its troubled Euro Disney theme park near Paris.

A year ago, Disney lost $77.7 million in the fourth quarter and earned a profit of only $299.8 million because of Euro Disney. This year, revenue climbed 24% in the quarter, to $2.7 billion, and rose 18% for the year, to $8.5 billion. Operating income jumped 14% to $1.97 billion.

Filmed entertainment, which Katzenberg oversaw, continued to drive the company’s results, with operating income soaring 98% to $188.5 million in the quarter and 38% for the year to $856.1 million. Revenue soared 30% to $4.79 billion for the year.

In addition to “The Lion King,” Disney’s biggest box-office hit ever, the company enjoyed substantial profits from videocassette sales of “Aladdin” and “The Return of Jafar.”

But Euro Disney continues to lose money for Disney, which now owns 40% of the park. Disney said that the financially restructured theme park cost the company $57.5 million in losses in the quarter, and $110.4 million in losses for the year.

Disney also said it took an unspecified write-off stemming from development costs related to the now-abandoned site of its controversial Disney’a America historic theme park in Virginia. Analysts estimated the size of the write-off at $25 million to $35 million.

Overall, operating income for Disney’s theme parks fell 18% in the quarter to $155.3 million and dropped 8% for the year to $684.1 million, due in part to a drop in the number of foreign tourists visiting Walt Disney World in Florida.

Separately, Disney said its directors authorized it to buy back up to 90 million shares. The company, which had an average of 542 million in the fourth quarter, said it has repurchased 23 million shares since May.