Comcast CEO Says Olympic Plans Are "Rushing" Despite Coronavirus

"There shouldn't be any losses if there weren't any Olympics," said Brian Roberts at an investor conference, adding that the virus could benefit from Pay TV and broadband from Comcast.

"The core business of Comcast is likely unaffected at this time" by the coronavirus, President and CEO Brian Roberts said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley 2020 conference on technology, media and telecommunications in San Francisco in a live session, the executive discussed the impact on NBCUniversal's entertainment business in theme parks and potential benefits for its pay TV and broadband activities. And he talked about what the virus could mean for the Olympics.

The biggest impact for the company will be in its theme park in Osaka, Japan, which has been closed for two weeks, said Roberts. This will mean "probably an additional 7-9% negative impact" in the first quarter on NBCUniversal earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization depending on the length of the shutdown. "This fleet accounts for about 2% of our EBITDA" at Comcast, which stood at $ 34.3 billion in 2019, he said.

Roberts also mentioned that the construction of the China theme park planned by NBCU in Beijing was not affected, although 13,000 construction workers were forced to stop working due to the virus for several weeks for Chinese New Year and beyond. Since then, "we are back at work and encouraged to go even faster," he said, adding that the firm's Chinese team believes the park will "open on time" in May 2021 "despite the disturbances".

Will the Tokyo Summer Olympics be hit or even canceled? "The Olympics are obviously on everyone's mind. What I do know is that everything is running," said Roberts, adding that the company had contractual protection and insurance. "There should be no losses if there were no Olympics," he said. "(There) just wouldn't be a profit this year." The executive concluded that he was "optimistic" that the Summer Games were happening, adding that he "was looking forward to it".

The company's large cable system companies could even benefit because of fears about coronaviruses, said Roberts. "Overall, with 70 percent of our business revenue being cable and broadband and that consumption taking place at home, we are in a very good set of businesses that can actually see ( improvement), "he told the conference. "It could actually accelerate the trends we already know." Roberts added, "If anything, people appreciate the value of our product even more."

In 2019, Comcast added more broadband customers than in 2018. However, its total net losses of 733,000 video customers were up from 370,000 in 2018, and management expected a further increase in losses. this year, stressing that it will not pursue unprofitable videos. customers.

With the coronavirus epidemic continuing to spread around the world, NBCUniversal is among those who have cut all but the most essential overseas travel for its workers to reduce the threat of contracting the disease, according to sources. The Hollywood Reporter understands that the company is now following the guidelines of the U.S. Department of State, advising that non-critical travel outside of an employee's home country is interrupted.

Asked about his appetite for mergers and acquisitions, Roberts said on Tuesday that Comcast had no "strategic deficits" at this point. He made a similar comment in January, saying that the addition of Sky "positions us to better compete in a world where the global scale counts". The executive said the company believes it has everything it needs to succeed, including globally.

Discussing Sky, Roberts said "Brexit has been a big cloud over Europe", but I hope "it will be resolved". He praised Sky for its recent deals which mean that Netflix, Warner content and Disney content are locked into multi-year deals with the European pay TV giant.

In January, Comcast and NBCU executives unveiled their plans for the Peacock streaming service, which will launch in April as a product that they believe will appeal to streaming subscribers but will not necessarily entice subscribers Pay TV to cut the wire and jeopardize the cable business of NBCUniversal. Roberts presented Peacock as a "truly differentiated" service that "hits the mark for consumers and advertisers". On Tuesday, he said that his inclusion of an advertising model in his business model will mean that the business will reach profitability faster, with lower losses.

Nintendo, the video game giant that has never contributed its brands to a theme park, will join Osaka Park at NBCU, and "what has been developed could be the most attractive sophisticated never built, "Roberts said on Tuesday. "When you can be the company people want to partner with – be it Steven Spielberg, Nintendo or Harry Potter and JK Ramer and offer relationships on a global scale that include parks at theme, it's a pretty awesome symphony. "

Earlier in the day, Verizon chief financial officer Matt Ellis was asked about the impact of coronavirus on the wireless giant. At the moment, the financial impact is "not significant, nor material," he said. On the equipment revenue side, there is a risk of impact after the first quarter based on feedback from handset manufacturers, but that's not where most of the profits come from. added the financial director. Ellis continued: "We don't have enough data yet to see if there is a change in consumer behavior", but the company will continue to monitor this. He has also not mentioned any impact on the supply chain so far, but said the virus and the news surrounding it is "a fluid situation".

Alex Ritman contributed to this report.