Metso cancels its market outlook statement and provides an update on the Covid-19 impact
Metso Corporation, Stock exchange release on March 31, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. EET
Due to the current market uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Metso has decided to cancel its market outlook statement dated February 6, 2020. The market development in January and February 2020 was in line with the outlook statement, but uncertainty caused by the measures to globally fight against the spreading of the coronavirus has increased in our markets towards the end of March.
The cancelled market outlook was as follows: Market activity in both segments, Flow Control and Minerals, is expected to remain at the current level in both the equipment and services business.
Metso will publish a new market outlook statement in its Interim Review for January-March 2020, which is scheduled to be published on May 7, 2020.
Update on the Covid-19 impact
During February, Metso’s operations in China were largely impacted by the coronavirus situation. The Chinese factories were nevertheless restarted successfully during the month and are now running at the normal capacity. The order intake from China in the first quarter is estimated to be on the planned level, while sales in China will be lower than planned, having a minor impact on Metso's financial performance.
The quickly enforced measures to contain the spreading of the virus in various countries around the world are limiting the mobility of workforce and have started to have an impact on our field service operations recently. Currently, Metso’s operations especially in India, Peru and South Africa are affected by the restrictions imposed by governments. If prolonged for several weeks, the restrictions might also affect supply chain activities.
Under these circumstances, Metso will continue to focus on the safety of its personnel and customers, as well as leveraging its global operations in order to provide a maximum flexibility to ensure continuation of its own and its customers’ operations. Simultaneously, the company continues to prepare actions to adapt to short-term challenges in various locations and focus on cost control and cash flow.
The company has already earlier implemented a strong cost control, due to the upcoming demerger and its liquidity position is solid. The planned short-term activities could include reduction of worktime and reduced overall spend. Reduced worktime is likely to have a temporary negative impact on the compensation for many employees, and therefore the Metso Executive Team has decided to participate in this undertaking by lowering its own compensation during this period as well.
Further information, please contact:
Juha Rouhiainen, Vice President, Investor Relations, Metso Corporation, tel. +358 20 484 3253, email: juha.rouhiainen@metso.com
Helena Marjaranta, Vice President, Communications and Stakeholder Relations, Metso Corporation, tel. +358 20 484 3212, email: helena.marjaranta@metso.com
Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Main media
www.metso.com
Metso is a world-leading industrial company offering equipment and services for the sustainable processing and flow of natural resources in the mining, aggregates, recycling and process industries. With our unique knowledge and innovative solutions, we help our customers improve their operational efficiency, reduce risks and increase profitability. Metso is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki in Finland and had sales of about EUR 3.6 billion in 2019. Metso employs over 15,000 people in more than 50 countries.