Continued strong development in NOTE during the first quarter 2020
NOTE is continuing to perform strongly despite concerns about the spread of the Corona virus. Production at NOTE's plant in China has been running at full capacity for two weeks. With a sales shortfall of some SEK 20 million in the quarter, mainly due to an extended production stoppage in China, sales in Q1 are estimated at SEK 460-470 million, corresponding to growth of some 151 FTEs. Including the sales shortfall and additional costs associated with the extended production stoppage at the China plant, the operating margin is expected to remain strong.
”We naturally take the Corona situation very seriously. At the beginning of the year, we took a large number of measures in response to the situation. Already in January, we introduced a number of internal restrictions on travel, meetings and external visits. In the run-up to the Chinese New Year in January, the factory in China was closed for a week longer than normal. In close cooperation with local authorities, a number of precautionary measures were taken to prevent the spread of infection before the factory reopened for production on 10 February. Staff in the China factory have gradually returned and production in China has been running at a normal high rate for almost two weeks. Demand for electronics manufacturing in China remains high and we expect to be able to make up for the loss of production from the extended shutdown, mainly through increased overtime, in the coming quarter.
At the same time, a close dialogue is maintained with suppliers, not least with regard to printed circuit boards (PCBs), to identify and limit disruptions to deliveries to our factories and delays to our customers. Some delivery delays have occurred, which has led to more rescheduling of production than normal. Priorities have naturally been set in close dialogue with the customers concerned. It is of course difficult, if not impossible, to predict possible delivery disruptions and component shortages in the future. So far this year, the availability of electronic components and other production materials has been relatively good despite the problems surrounding Corona.
We have a high order backlog for delivery in Q2 and beyond, and are working intensively to ensure continued good availability of materials. We are closely monitoring the future progress of the Corona situation and its impact on NOTE, our customers and suppliers with great humility.”, says Johannes Lind-Widestam, President and CEO.
For further information, please contact:
Johannes Lind-Widestam, President and CEO, tel. 070-541 72 22
Henrik Nygren, Chief Financial Officer, tel. 070-977 06 86
About NOTE
NOTE is one of northern Europe's leading partners for electronics manufacturing. NOTE manufactures printed circuit boards (PCBA), sub-assemblies and complete products (box build). Its customer offering covers the whole product lifecycle, from design to after-sales. NOTE is established in Sweden, Finland, the UK, Estonia, Bulgaria and China. Sales in the last 12 months were SEK 3,687 million and the group has some 1,400 employees. NOTE is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.note.eu.
This information is information that NOTE AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of Johannes Lind-Widestam, at 18:30 CET on 4 July 2023.