Engie Shares Suffer After 2020 Guidance Withdrawal, 2019 Dividend Scrapped
02 Aprile 2020 - 10:22AM
Dow Jones News
By Mauro Orru
Engie SA's shares opened lower Thursday after the company
withdrew guidance for 2020 and scrapped its 2019 dividend as the
coronavirus pandemic continues to spread.
Engie shares opened 2.7% lower. At 0743 GMT, shares traded 0.7%
lower at EUR8.91.
The French utility company said late Wednesday that the pandemic
is having a "significant impact" on some of its customers and
operations, although such impact is currently unquantifiable.
Engie added that negative foreign exchange effects were likely
to harm accounts, singling out the reduced value of the Brazilian
real.
The company also canceled its 2019 dividend payment of EUR0.80
per share.
Analysts at German bank Berenberg, said the guidance withdrawal
is not a surprise, adding that Engie is simply following
instructions from French President Emmanuel Macron to suspend the
2019 dividend payment for state-owned companies, as Engie is 26%
state-owned.
"The impact of the crisis on global supply chains, client
operations and demand has been progressive, exceeding previous
expectations, while the magnitude of impact varies by business line
and is most pronounced in labor-intensive client solutions areas,"
said Claire Waysand, Judith Hartmann and Paulo Almirante, from
Engie's executive leadership team in a statement.
However, Engie said it has a strong balance sheet to navigate
the crisis, with 16.4 billion euros ($17.98 billion) of liquidity
available.
The company is "well stocked to weather a financial downturn,"
Berenberg analysts said.
Engie said its shareholders' general meeting would go ahead on
May 14 in a remote format.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com; @MauroOrru94
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 02, 2020 04:07 ET (08:07 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Grafico Azioni Engie (EU:ENGI)
Storico
Da Feb 2024 a Mar 2024
Grafico Azioni Engie (EU:ENGI)
Storico
Da Mar 2023 a Mar 2024