COVID-19’s Effects on Stille
After the publication of the year-end report on the 20th of February, uncertainty relating to the COVID-19 outbreak has increased. Changed priorities within the healthcare system, and actions to slow the spread of the virus is increasingly affecting the business. In line with the increased number of cases, the healthcare system is realigning their focus from surgery to intensive care, which has a considerable impact on the market’s demand for Stille’s products.
Because of this reason, Stille believes that there is a considerable risk that the company will be significantly impacted during the second quarter as sales, result and cashflow is expected to be lower than previous year. The sales in March has also been affected, which results in a slight decrease in turnover for the first quarter compared to 2019. As of today, it is not possible to anticipate the long-term effects that the pandemic can have on the company. The board of directors and Stille’s executive management are closely monitoring the situation in the market, particularly the US market.
At this moment the healthcare system needs to fully focus on their task to combat this pandemic. As such, our employees are currently not conducting any visits to hospitals and clinics, unless service is urgently needed, says Stille’s CEO Hanna Ernestam Wilkman and continues; Our main focus during this turbulent time is to care for the health and employments of our employees. For that reason, together with the general uncertainty in the market, we have today decided to implement short-time work within the Swedish sales and production organization, affecting 40 employees.
We are closely monitoring the situation and will take further actions to maintain the financial stability of the company. We want to thank our clients and their colleagues in the healthcare system. You are doing an important job in the fight against the COVID-19 virus, concludes Hanna Ernestam Wilkman.
Torshälla, March 30th 2020