Corporates Talking Coronavirus

Here's a taste of what Australian listed companies have been saying in March 2020 regarding coronavirus.There's the expected - a drop in demand for air travel and retail traffic declining - but the virus has also been used as a reason for a capital raising and as a driver of online sales.


TRANSCRIPTS FROM CONFERENCE CALLS

Senex Energy (SXY) - MD Ian Davies - conference call on March 11, 2020
"This was originally planned to be a face-to-face briefing in Sydney. But clearly, with COVID-19 and the uncertain environment that, that brings, we've opted for safety first."

" In recent times, global LNG has been characterized by an increase in supply and a softening of demand, leading to an excess of supply in the market. Weather in the northern hemisphere and the coronavirus are some of the factors impacting demand."


Qantas Airways (QAN) - MD Alan Joyce - conference call on March 11, 2020
"We've seen coronavirus and the amazing levels of coverage around it, shipped from China to also include the Middle East, Europe and now North America. That's led to a very sudden drop in demand for air travel."

"I think, well, by the time we get to the full year in August, I think everybody's of the view, we'll have a very good understanding of where coronavirus is..."


MMG (MMG) - CEO Geoffrey Gao - conference call on March 5, 2020
" In relation to cash flow and liquidity more generally, the coronavirus outbreak is likely to have a negative impact on results for the first half, with copper and zinc prices dropping sharply lower since the Chinese New Year."

"So the LIBOR rate has come down. And I guess I'd say with the coronavirus, that all the central banks are continuing to lower interest rates."


Myer Holdings (MYR) - MD John King - conference call on March 5, 2020
"The CBD and any of those sort of tourist destination stores certainly saw traffic slowdown post the announcement of the news around coronavirus. I can't say what the future holds. I mean we know -- we'll see. We're driving online as aggressively as we can because if people are afraid to come out, they can still shop at home. And certainly, we've seen that with the significant growth in the performance of our online business."

"In terms of what we've seen currently [regarding supply chain disruptions caused by coronavirus], all our factories by the end -- by tomorrow will be back and up and running. So we were 85% last week back and running. 80% of the fabric mills, we understand are up and running. We're going to probably get about 40% of our normal traffic of containers through March with catch-up through April and May. So we reckon there's about 4- to 6-week delay. So what we've done is we've obviously canceled out."


Revasum (RVS) - CFO Ryan Benton - conference call on March 4, 2020
"I think we're all really evaluating what business travel is necessary and to some extent, forcing people to be more efficient. And rather than getting on an expensive international flight, we're having conference calls and video conference calls and that type of thing. We have kind of fallen on our sword appropriately."


Bega Cheese (BGA) - CEO Paul van Heerwaarden - conference call on March 2, 2020
"We have seen in recent weeks the impact of the coronavirus, which is probably taken about 10% of some of the core powder commodity pricing that's being traded in future markets are also reflecting that."

"So at this stage, whilst we continue to monitor COVID-19 carefully, we are not seeing any material impact on our business. And we are looking forward and discussing with customers what may be the impact in coming months. And we're not identifying anything material at this stage, but of course, we're very conscious of what may be happening in the market. And we're also very conscious of ensuring that our staff, customers, suppliers are all safe. And we're adopting all the recommended procedures around any COVID-19 outbreak that might occur."


Rural Funds Group (RFF) - MD David Bryant - conference call on March 2, 2020
" The first question we have is considering the coronavirus, the impact on the fund and the agricultural sector more broadly. There's been no impact on the fund and nor should there be that those risks are borne by our lessees. There is no doubt that export of Australian commodities to China stopped -- all but stopped during the first quarter of this calendar year. They're speaking to our lessees who have export -- exports going to China. They have started to flow again but slowly. But there is little doubt that there has been an impact."


PRESS RELEASES

ANZ (ANZ) - ANZ reduces variable home loan rates between 0.25%pa and 0.35%pa
"ANZ is also providing the necessary financial support to business customers experiencing hardship due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This includes suspending interest repayments, providing early access to term deposits without incurring break fees as well as providing access to additional credit."


Schrole Group (SCL) - "FY20 Business Update"
"“The Coronavirus has had minimal impact on sales so far in FY20 with no impact during the peak
hiring period that occurred in January and February 2020. While many Asian international schools
are conducting learning online, teacher recruitment to date has not been impacted."


Getswift (GSW) - "GetSwift Secures Funding up to US$45 Million from U.S. Alternative Investment Group"
"LDA Capital LLC (“LDA Capital“), a United States based private alternative investment group, which has agreed to provide the Company with up to US$45 million (“Commitment Amount”) in committed equity capital over the next 36 months. The Company will use this capital (as required) to continue to fuel growth and to hedge against developing global circumstances such as the Coronavirus."

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