The Bossard Group have seen a considerable improvement in sales in the third quarter of 2020. Following a drop in sales in the second quarter of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company have achieved sales of 200.6 million in Q3.
The company’s currency-adjusted sales fell by 5.6 percent to CHF 200.6 million in the comparison period, a significant improvement over the second quarter (-13.7 percent in local currency). Bossard’s widely diversified customer base in Europe, particularly in Switzerland, contributed to the recovery.
A diversified customer base helped Bossard to solid sales in the first half of 2020, despite Covid-19 disruption, with the group also noting signs of recovery in the Asian market.
Stabilization across all market regions
In Europe, Bossard posted a third quarter drop in sales of 10.7 percent to CHF 113.5 million compared to the same period last year (-8.9 percent in local currency).
Sales in America totalled CHF 51.0 million in the third quarter (prior year: CHF 53.8 million). Compared to the 22.6 percent drop in sales in the second quarter, the third quarter decline was just 5.2 percent (-1.7 percent in local currency). Thus, the Bossard Group also recorded a visible stabilization in America.
Approximately two-thirds of sales in Asia is generated in China and India. Although both countries were severely affected by the lockdown in the first half of the year, Asia posted sales of CHF 36.1 million in the third quarter of 2020, a slightly positive growth of 0.3 percent in local currency. Due to the negative currency effect sales in Swiss francs declined by 4 percent.
In spite of the difficult market environment, the Bossard Group continues consistently to pursue its strategic direction.
Daniel Bossard, CEO stated: “We are well positioned, and we have an excellent team and a solid balance sheet with a high equity ratio and the necessary liquidity to take advantage of new opportunities on the market and to invest in forward-looking projects.”
“We are now seeing a slight recovery in our markets, even though some uncertainty remains as to how they will respond to the resurgence in the number of COVID-19 infections,” he said.
