Luggage giant Samsonite suffers first-quarter loss of US$787 million as Covid-19 brings global travel to a standstill
- The ‘near-complete halt in travel and tourism worldwide’ will affect the company’s earnings for the rest of 2020, says CEO Kyle Gendreau
- The group’s supply chain has been affected as factories in China shut down for a prolonged period after Lunar New Year
Samsonite International suffered losses of over US$700 million from January to March, and warns coronavirus will hit full-year earnings, as the world’s largest travel luggage company reels from a pause in global travel.
The suitcase brand – which owns the likes of Tumi and American Tourister – recorded a net loss of US$787.3 million in the first three months of 2020, compared to a profit of US$22.8 million in the same period last year. Net sales dropped 27.7 per cent, or US$230 million, over the same time frame, to US$601.2 million.
Sales decreased across all regions. Samsonite said it will not pay a dividend to shareholders this year.
“The near-complete halt in travel and tourism worldwide has adversely affected the group’s performance in the first quarter of 2020, and is expected to continue to impact our business for the remainder of 2020,” said Kyle Gendreau, chief executive officer, in a statement.
The group’s supply chain has been affected as factories in China shut down for a prolonged period after Lunar New Year. Now reopened, production levels remain lower as demand has lightened globally while the virus spread.
