COVID 19 pandemic: Villeroy & Boch decides on further measures

Villeroy & Boch AG is reacting to the increasing COVID 19 pandemic and the official measures taken in its course. Now that the administrative departments, with a few exceptions, are already working in the home office, the Management Board has now agreed with the responsible works councils of Villeroy & Boch AG to interrupt parts of the European production for the period until the end of April.

This interruption will initially affect the sites of both divisions in Germany and France. A possible extension depends on further developments, which the Executive Board is constantly monitoring and to which it will react accordingly. Further measures, which may include the interruption of work at other locations and production sites as well as work in selected administrative areas, will be decided depending on further developments.

With these measures, Villeroy & Boch wishes to protect the workforce and contribute to breaking chains of infection and containing the spread of the pandemic.

Despite an intrinsically good business development at the beginning of the financial year, Villeroy & Boch is preparing itself with these measures for a phase of temporarily lower demand. However, the supply chains have so far remained intact and inventories are sufficiently high to cover normal demand in the coming weeks despite the interruption of production in Europe.

As there is currently only limited visibility of the consequences of the pandemic, the economic impact on Villeroy & Boch can neither be adequately determined nor reliably quantified at present. The Management Board expects that sales and earnings for the current financial year will be below the previous forecast, which envisaged slight growth.