Smith & Nephew addresses COVID-19 impact
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Due to the spread of COVID-19 beyond China, Smith & Nephew has withdrawn its full-year 2020 financial guidance, which was issued in February and had “assumed a normalization of the COVID-19 outbreak early in the second quarter,” according a company press release. The company has also issued a statement on the impact of the virus.
“Overall, it is too early to determine the consequent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business,” the company noted in the release.
It expects first-quarter trading results to be reported on May 6, 2020. “We expect that underlying revenue growth for the first quarter will be around -8% down on the first quarter of last year. We also expect that second-quarter revenue and first-half trading margin will be substantially down on the prior year,” according to the release.
The company has taken precautionary measures to cut spending in areas like travel, promotions and hires.
“Our immediate focus is the well-being of employees, and to continue to support patients and medical practitioners. We remain actively engaged in our communities. We are supporting employees with health care experience who wish to volunteer to return to front line care and using our R&D and manufacturing expertise to support the fight against COVID-19,” Roland Diggelmann, CEO of the company, said in the release.
“Looking beyond the immediate future, Smith & Nephew operates in attractive markets with excellent growth fundamentals. We are financially strong with a proven strategy and unique portfolio. Our major manufacturing and distribution facilities are all active and we are ready to meet pent-up demand when the time comes,” he said.
Reference:
https://www.smith-nephew.com/news-and-media/media-releases/news/statement-on-covid-19-impact/