Vesuvius April sales slump 28% on Covid-19 lockdowns
Steel industry engineer Vesuvius reported a sharp fall in April sales and pulled guidance as global lockdowns to contain the Covid-19 outbreak resulted in "significant disruption" to its business.
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Vesuvius said the market environment "remained challenging" in its foundry business due to a 1.4% year-on-year decline in global steel production, as most end-markets showed year-on-year declines - with the exception of South America.
The company on Wednesday reported that its first-quarter performance was only "marginally ahead" of the prior three months, reflecting a subdued market environment.
April sales fell 28% year-on-year as governments took steps to stymie the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and Vesuvius said the uncertainties had led it to withdraw financial guidance for the year.
The group has implemented several cost reduction plans to deliver savings of around £10m per quarter during the crisis and further boosted its liquidity position to £689m in light of the financial uncertainty created by the pandemic.
Chief executive Patrick André said: "Whilst the extent of the impact of Covid-19 on our business remains uncertain, we are confident that the measures we have taken to aggressively cut costs and preserve liquidity not only ensure that we can operate through a prolonged downturn but also emerge stronger once end markets recover."
(Writing by Frank Prenesti. Editing by Michele Maatouk.)