Somfy : Financial information for the first quarter of 2020 and update on activity levels at the different production sites

Group sales totalled €291.3 million for the first three months of the financial year, an increase of 2.9% in real terms and 2.8% on a like-for-like basis. Their growth was 11.7% and 11.1% respectively at the end of the first two months.

The health crisis caused by the global spread of the Covid-19 virus explains the downturn seen at the end of the quarter and masks the very successful start to the year recorded in most of the geographic regions.

The regions most affected by this pandemic have been Latin America (down 1.1%[1]), Asia-Pacific (down 5.2%), France (down 6.7%) and Southern Europe (down 10.9%) where in March the Group decided to suspend operations at several production and distribution sites[2] in order to protect employees and stakeholders and to comply with local administrative recommendations.

By and large, the other territories performed well over the period. This was particularly the case for Eastern (up 35.5%) and Central Europe (up 11.2%), which continued to record very sustained growth, and for North America (up 5.4%) and Northern Europe (up 4.5%), as well as for the region made up of Africa & the Middle East (up 12.5%), which continued its recovery despite a dip at the end of the period.

Sales of Dooya, an equity-accounted subsidiary, totalled €34.8 million over the first three months of the year, a decline of 17.3% in real terms and 17.0% on a like-for-like basis. They fell sharply in China (down 41.6%), where the effects of the pandemic have been felt since the beginning of the year, but conversely remained stable in the rest of the World (up 0.1%).

[1] Figures in brackets following the names of geographic regions indicate changes on a like-for-like basis for the year to end March. They are calculated based on customer location.

[2] On 23 March, the Group announced it had suspended its operations at the production sites in Cluses and Gray, France, Galliera and Schio, Italy, and Zaghouan, Tunisia, as well as at the logistics centre in Bonneville, France.