Cairo – Mubasher: Lecico Egypt reported a 163.96% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated losses during the first quarter of 2020.
The company suffered net losses of EGP 73.41 million in the three-month period ended on 31 March, compared to EGP 27.81 million in the prior-year period, according to bourse disclosure on Thursday.
Sales plunged to EGP 496.5 million in the January-March period from EGP 637.1 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.
As for standalone business, Lecico Egypt turned to losses of EGP 33.43 million in Q1-20, against net profits of EGP 45.99 million in Q1-19.
Over the January-March period, the company’s operations have been negatively affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Demand has been dampened with the closure of the company’s main markets in Libya, Jordan, and Lebanon. In addition, demand for the company’s products fell by 20-50% in Europe.
The company continues to reduce costs by shutting off furnaces and cutting purchases in order to limit its liabilities.
Earlier, the company shut down two of its factories temporarily following the detection of COVID-19 cases.
It is worth noting that in 2019, the company incurred net losses of EGP 300.98 million, up from EGP 111.656 million in 2018, including minority shareholders’ rights.
