Independent lubricants blender Fuchs Petrolub SE posted steep declines in profit and sales for the second quarter, compared to results in 2019’s second quarter.
The Mannheim, Germany-based company posted 28 million euros (U.S. $33 million) in earnings after tax for the quarter ending June 31, down 51 percent from €57 million in 2019’s second quarter.
Sales declined to €504 million for the second quarter, down 23 percent from €653 million.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has also heavily impacted the Fuchs Group’s business,” Executive Board Chairman Stefan Fuchs said in the company’s half-year report. “All global regions have seen significant declines in sales revenues and earnings in the past months.”
Sales declined by 28 percent to €289 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; by 5 percent in Asia-Pacific; and by 33 percent in North and South America.
Stefan Fuchs said that in coping with the pandemic, the company benefited from its global presence. “When the crisis began in China in February and continued there in March, the EMEA and North and South America regions were not yet affected or were only slightly affected at the end of the first quarter,” he explained. “By contrast, when the wave fully hit the Western world in April and May, a clear upward trend was already emerging in Asia, which then continued with a strong June.”
He also noted the company’s diversified product portfolio proved helpful because in many countries, Fuchs was classified as a system-critical company, resulting in only temporary plant closures in a few smaller plants. “Significant declines were observed among customers in the automotive industry; however, the areas of specialty applications and aftermarket business benefited from the changed conditions,” he said.