Volution Group plc COVID-19 Trading Update (5002I)
02 April 2020 - 5:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMFAN
RNS Number : 5002I
Volution Group plc
02 April 2020
Embargoed to 07:00
Thursday 2 April 2020
Volution Group plc
COVID-19 Trading Update
Volution Group plc ("Volution" or "the Group" or "the Company",
LSE: FAN), a leading supplier of ventilation products to the
residential and commercial construction markets in the UK,
Continental Europe and Australasia, today provides an update in
respect of COVID-19.
Trading Update
Since our last update on Wednesday 25(th) March the restrictions
and lockdowns in the UK, Belgium and latterly Australia and New
Zealand have resulted in a marked reduction in order intake and
revenue across our businesses in these countries. The impact in the
Nordics and Germany to date has been less pronounced although we
have started to see some reduction in activity in these markets. We
therefore anticipate demand across our businesses to remain
considerably below normal levels of trading, however we expect to
maintain a baseline of orders and revenue throughout the crisis due
to our geographic and product diversity.
Our ventilation product ranges are supplied to a wide range of
applications in both residential and commercial buildings, and in
the UK, for example, ventilation has been classified as an
essential product. Maintaining excellent indoor air quality is very
important and we are proud to be supporting some of the important
projects that are taking place as the UK responds to the pandemic.
Earlier this week we delivered a large batch of air movement
ventilation axial fans for use in the newly constructed Nightingale
Hospital in London. A number of other projects are underway to
reopen mothballed hospital wards and our sales, production and
logistic teams are supporting these initiatives to ensure that we
can service these requirements in full.
Our People
The safety, wellbeing and security of our employees is paramount
to Volution and especially at the current time. As the crisis
evolved we acted early on to ensure that in the vast majority of
our geographies, any employee who was able to move to remote home
working was supported to do so. Our production sites are still
operating, strictly adhering to the government guidelines on social
distancing and with enhanced cleaning and hygiene. Our teams across
the Group have responded with great speed and agility during this
difficult time and we want to thank them for their considerable
efforts, understanding and cooperation.
With activity expected to be materially lower for the next few
months and potentially beyond, we have made use of the appropriate
government employee protection schemes in each of the geographies
we trade from, to tailor our capacity to the anticipated levels of
demand. In the UK we have furloughed approximately 60% of the
workforce and will remain flexible to further changes in the volume
of furloughed employees relative to the evolving picture of
demand.
Liquidity and mitigating actions
We have scaled back discretionary expenditure to the absolute
minimum, whilst almost all capital expenditure other than that
related to health and safety requirements has been put on hold.
Furthermore the Board including the Executive Directors will take a
20% salary reduction for the next two months and this remains
subject to ongoing review depending on the length and severity of
the crisis.
Our gross cash balance as at 31 March stood at GBP41 million,
with a further GBP14 million of undrawn facilities available under
the Group's Revolving Credit Facility. With the cost containment
actions already implemented and an expected continuation of
variable levels of trading across our markets, we are therefore,
well placed to withstand the challenges of the coming months.
Outlook
The unprecedented uncertainly around the impact of Covid-19,
means it is not possible to assess with any certainty our near term
financial performance. However, we benefit from geographic and
product diversity and have sufficient cash reserves to see our
business through a prolonged hiatus in economic activity.
Our near term focus is to protect our employees, support the
governments' actions, whilst seeking to ensure we are well placed
when the recovery takes place.
-Ends-
For further information:
Enquiries:
Volution Group plc
Ronnie George, Chief Executive
Officer +44 (0) 1293 441501
Andy O'Brien, Chief Financial
Officer +44 (0) 1293 441536
+44 (0) 203 100
Liberum Capital Limited 2222
Neil Patel
Richard Bootle
Edward Phillips
+44 (0) 207 353
Tulchan Communications 4200
James Macey White
David Allchurch
Giles Kernick
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
constituted inside information (as defined by Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) prior to its release as part of this
announcement.
Legal Entity Identifier: 213800EPT84EQCDHO768.
Note to Editors:
Volution Group plc (LSE: FAN) is a leading supplier of
ventilation systems and products to both the residential and
commercial construction markets in the UK, Continental Europe and
Australasia.
Volution Group comprises 16 key brands across the three
regions:
UK: Vent-Axia, Manrose, Diffusion, National Ventilation,
Airtech, Breathing Buildings, Torin-Sifan.
Continental Europe: Fresh, PAX, VoltAir, Kair, Air Connection,
inVENTer, Ventilair.
Australasia: Simx, Ventair.
For more information, please go to: www.volutiongroupplc.com
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Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
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contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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