Nexans mothballs 2020 guidance over COVID-19 hold on supply chains

The global COVID-19 outbreak has forced Paris-based Nexans SA (EPA:NEX) to suspend its guidance for 2020 until the situation firms up, the company said on Tuesday.

In its 2019 full-year financial report released on February 20, Nexans projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to be between EUR 440 million (USD 473.2m) and EUR 460 million in 2020. Return on capital employed (ROCE) before tax was seen between 11% and 12%.

In 2019, Nexans’ EBITDA grew by 18% to EUR 413 million, while ROCE was at 11.1%.

The French company, which manufactures and supplies cables for the onshore and offshore wind industry, said the restrictive measures that are currently in place around the world may affect its supply chain and production schedule worldwide.

Beside putting the 2020 guidance on hold, Nexans said that at this stage it is too early to assess how the overall uncertainty will impact the group’s results.

Nexans is in line to supply cables for a number of global wind projects. In early March, before country-wide lockdowns to curb the coronavirus spread became ubiquitous in Europe, it was announced that construction of the 496-MW Saint Brieuc offshore wind project was about to commence soon in French waters. Nexans was awarded a contract to supply and install power export cables for Saint Brieuc.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.076)

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