Bouygues warns of bigger coronavirus hit ahead

Bouygues SA said Thursday that its net loss widened in the first quarter and it warned that there will be a bigger coronavirus hit on its second-quarter results.

The French construction-and-media conglomerate posted a net loss of 204 million euros ($221.2 million) for the first quarter compared with a loss of EUR59 million a year earlier.

Its quarterly current operating loss widened to EUR242 million from a loss of EUR58 million, mainly due to a coronavirus-related impact of around EUR170 million in the quarter, it said.

Sales fell to EUR7.22 billion from EUR7.93 billion a year earlier.

“The good performance of the construction businesses and TF1 in January and February 2020, and Bouygues Telecom’s resilience were not able to offset the sharp drop in activity in March, essentially resulting from the lockdown imposed by the French government,” it said.

It estimated that the pandemic-related sales decline for 1Q was around EUR750 million.

Bouygues recently withdrew its guidance for 2020 due to the pandemic. It didn’t provide new guidance on Thursday but warned that it expects a bigger hit for the second quarter.

Kim Richters

Source:marketwatch.com