Bobst Group has said it expects the first half-year loss due to Covid-19 lock-down impact. The company has also announced a change in the group executive committee. The spread of Covid-19 has caused major disruptions in the global supply chain and has impacted the international trade and service business in recent months. Most machine installations and service interventions scheduled for the second quarter of 2020 could not be performed as planned due to travel bans, which has a significant impact on revenue recognition, Bobst said.
The 2020 sales will be even less balanced than in previous years affecting negatively the first half-year profitability. Bobst Group expects its sales for the first half of 2020 to be more than CHF 200 million lower than the CHF 737 million achieved in the same period in 2019. The operating result (EBIT) for the first half of 2020 is expected to be around CHF 50 to 60 million lower than the CHF 15 million achieved in the same period of 2019.
Although countries are reopening borders, there is still a lot of uncertainty mainly linked to air travel and the overall economic and pandemic situation. It is therefore not possible at this time to give reliable guidance for the Group’s full-year revenues and results, it said.
Change in the Group Executive Committee
After 9 years of service in Bobst Group’s Executive Committee, Philippe Milliet, Head of Business Unit Sheet-fed, decided to take on new mandates and to re-focus his activities on business outside of Bobst in the near future.
Effective 1 July 2020, Jean-Pascal Bobst, Group CEO, will head the Business Unit Sheet-fed ad interim.
