Photo courtesy of Universal Media Relations.

 On April 30, 2020, Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal shared updates on their parks and resorts division in their 2020 first quarter call. Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO mentions operating losses and delayed construction that is happening throughout their parks sector. 

Here is what Roberts had to say during the conference call:

"Second, I want to touch on theme parks. As of today, our theme parks remain closed, resulting in substantial operating losses, which Mike will detail. We have also delayed construction of the fourth gate in Orlando, and Super Nintendo World Japan is likely to open a few months past our original expectation. But there is no doubt that our theme parks will reopen, and when they do, I believe we'll benefit from strong pent-up demand. We love these businesses. They have been one of our fastest growing for the last 10 years. They are extremely profitable, historically resilient and enjoy high barriers to entry. Our talented parks team is taking the right near-term steps to control costs while remaining laser-focused on putting in place the appropriate protocols, technology and infrastructure so that when we do reopen, our parks are safe and feel that way to consumers.
​And while we don't know when that will be in the U.S., I'm heartened by what we're seeing in China, where we have been building a magnificent park in Beijing. As we all know, the first case of COVID occurred in China right around the Chinese New Year. Going into that holiday, we had 12,000 construction workers going full bore. But as a result of the virus, that number soon went to zero. As of today, we now have over 15,000 construction workers back at our site, even more than before the virus started. I was part of a group that recently spoke with Mike Hightower, a 40-year parks veteran, who is the head of construction living in Beijing. And he reports we have a safe working environment with many protocols in place. I'm pleased to announce we expect to be open amazingly on time and on budget in 2021. Beijing may be different, but perhaps it shows the arc of this crisis."

Next to speak was Michael J. Cavanagh, Senior Executive Vice President and CFO. Cavanagh mentions that theme park revenue in the first quarter declined 32% to $869 million and the earnings before interest, taxes, Depreciation, and amortization declined 85% to $76 million due to the closure of Universal Studios Hollywood on March 14 and Universal Orlando Resort on March 16, all a direct result of COVID-19.

He also goes on to say that all theme parks are closed, and they do not know when the parks will reopen. Also adding that if he parks were to remain closed throughout all of the second quarter the parks would incur an EBITDA(earnings before interest, taxes, Depreciation, and amortization) loss at parks of roughly $500 million.

Cavanagh end his reportage on the parks by mentioning the construction impacts and positive outlook on the future of the parks 

Here is what he Says:

"​We remain very confident that the parks business will generate healthy returns over the long term. Nonetheless, we have decided to pause construction of Orlando's fourth gate or Epic Universe at this early stage while we focus on the immediate challenges that COVID-19 presents, while the final stages of work continue in full force for Super Nintendo World Japan, which is expected to open later this year; and Universal Beijing, which remains on schedule to open in 2021."​

To read to full transcript of Comcast's 2020 quarter one earnings click here.