COVID-19: TT Electronics is monitoring the situation carefully

TT operates two manufacturing facilities in China. One in Suzhou with about 650 employees and one in Dongguan with some 200 employees. In addition, the company has two small support facilities in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. These facilities accounted for 25% of the groups revenues during 2019. “Following the coronavirus outbreak around the turn of the year, our primary concern has been the well-being of our employees and managing their safe return to work following the lunar holiday. Both of our facilities closed for the lunar new year holiday as normal and were mostly closed for normal production until 10 February, as directed by the Chinese authorities. During this period, our global business continuity and crisis management plans operated very effectively, and we responded daily to local authority guidance,” the company writes in an update within its fiscal report.. TT’s Suzhou facility was given special permission to continue production throughout the extended lunar holiday to supply some critically needed medical diagnostic products for use in combating the virus. “At this time, under strict government control, we operated at circa 20% capacity instead of being shut completely. The Suzhou and Dongguan facilities re-opened on 10 February and have experienced a slower than normal capacity ramp-up but are now operating at circa 95% capacity,” the update continues. Right now, the company is carefully monitoring its supply chain of around 900 suppliers in China. And at this time, with the information currently available, TT estimates that about 99% of its suppliers have recommenced operations but with varying degrees of capacity. “We are well placed to make progress in 2020 and beyond. However, the duration and impact of the coronavirus remains uncertain, and based on the current situation we anticipate that it could impact underlying operating profit by up to GBP 3 million in 2020,” says Richard Tyson, Chief Executive Officer, in the company’s fiscal report.