COVID-19 restrictions continue to affect the Duni Group and opens for further applications for financial support
Duni Group sales and results have been strongly affected by the social restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, extended restrictions have led to increased opportunities to apply for government support, and the Group has today decided to apply for support for its operations in Germany.
The restrictions imposed on several of the Group’s main markets during the fourth quarter have largely been extended or strengthened during the first months of the year, resulting in limited or closed operations for most of our customer segments. However, the positive trend within the take-away market continues, with good effects.
As previously described, the Group has a cost-cutting program in which production capacity and costs are adapted to demand. In 2020, total cost reductions of approximately SEK 270 m were realized, of which approximately SEK 80 m was in connection with government support.With the prevailing market situation, the cost-cutting program continues during the start of the year. This means, among other things, high cost control and continued short-term layoffs in the markets where this is possible. We are also continually investigating the possibility of government support in all our markets.
The German government has in January 2021 announced that it is expanding opportunities to seek government support for fixed costs between November 2020 and June 2021 for companies whose net sales have fallen substantially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that the German subsidiaries of the Duni Group qualify to receive support and have therefore today decided to submit an application for the first four months of the period. Thereafter, we intend to apply for support on a monthly basis so long as it is available, and the business qualifies to receive it. It is currently uncertain how much support we will be able to receive. We estimate the amount to be between SEK 5–15 m per month.The full result for the first quarter will be published on 22 April at 07:45 am. A telephone conference will be held at 10:00 am with President and CEO Robert Dackeskog and CFO Magnus Carlsson.
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For further information, please contact:
Robert Dackeskog, President and CEO, tel. +46 (0)40 10 62 00, robert.dackeskog@duni.com
Magnus Carlsson, CFO, tel. +46 (0)40 10 62 00, magnus.carlsson@duni.com
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Duni Group is a market leader in attractive, sustainable and convenient products for table setting and take-away. The Group markets and sells two brands, Duni and BioPak, which are represented in more than 40 markets. Duni Group has some 2,400 employees in 24 countries, headquarters in Malmö and production units in Sweden, Germany, Poland, New Zealand and Thailand. Duni Group is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm under the ticker name “DUNI”. ISIN-code is SE 0000616716. This information is information that Duni AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 15:30 CET on March 18, 2021. Duni.com
