Schaan (FL), May 19, 2020 – The Hilti Group has experienced a significant downturn in business after the first four months of 2020 as result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total sales decreased by 13.1 percent year-on-year to CHF 1678 million. In local currencies the decline was 8.2 percent.
After a good start to the year with mid-single-digit growth, Hilti experienced a sharp drop in business in north Asia, in February, due to the spread of coronavirus. From mid-March onwards all markets around the world experienced a significant decline in sales. The sales downturn was less pronounced in countries where construction activities continued, such as Germany, Scandinavia and the USA. By contrast, business deteriorated significantly in countries such as France, Italy and Spain, where construction activity was stopped completely. An additional burden is the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc. The negative translation effect after the first four months amounts to roughly 5 percentage points. Developments in the respective business regions reflect the challenging situation worldwide (see table).