Countries across Europe have introduced measures aimed at stopping the novel coronavirus from spreading and in many of them shopping malls are closed.

LPP said its sales plunged 78% in the first week of April, after sliding 69% and 65% in the fourth and third weeks of March respectively.

"We lost two full months of sales and it seems ... that we can also lose a third month of sales. We will be definitely trying to sell as much as we can (after shops reopen) but with a reasonable pricing, not to destroy our gross margin," Przemyslaw Lutkiewicz said.

"It is hard to say right now how big the erosion in margin for the full year will be. I am thinking about something like 5 percentage points in total...," he added.

The company assumes a gradual reopening of shopping malls in different countries, with all its shops operating by the last week of June.

LPP has cut its planned capital spending by over a half to 500 million zlotys ($120 million) this year, does not plan to pay a dividend for 2019 and is reducing costs.

The company has applied for government help in the countries it operates worth an estimated 58-60 million zlotys a month.

Lutkiewicz also said LPP expects to return to normal levels of working capital next year.

In March, LPP Chief Executive Marek Piechocki said the group had enough resources to continue paying salaries for the next 4-6 months, calling the current situation "a war".

(Reporting by Anna Koper; Writing by Alan Charlish and Anna Koper; Editing by Toby Chopra and Mark Potter)