TCN.L Regulatory News (TCN)

20 March 2020

Tricorn Group plc

("Tricorn" or the "Group")

COVID-19 Impact

Tricorn Group plc (AIM: TCN.L), the AIM listed tube manipulation specialist, provides the following update regarding the impact of COVID-19.

The Group has been managing the impact of the COVID-19 virus since early February 2020. The initial focus was China where the majority of businesses, including the Group's facility, were not allowed by the Government to reopen following the Chinese Spring Festival. Our management in China working closely with the local government agreed a range of measures that allowed our Chinese Joint Venture facility to be reopened within 2 weeks thus avoiding any significant disruption to our customers in the region. This facility continues to operate as normal.

The Group's supplier base in China, which is also utilised by our UK facilities, took slightly longer to be re-established. It is now operational and alongside the implementation of a parallel sourcing strategy, Tricorn has ensured that component supply issues were held to a minimum.

Outside of China, in recent weeks we had seen some changes in demand as a limited number of customers experienced component shortages, but these changes were relatively modest. However, we are currently experiencing a rapid escalation of short term and immediate reductions in demand from key customers.

On March 19th 2020, a key UK customer advised that production had been halted for a short period with immediate effect. This has been followed overnight by similar announcements from a number of the Group's customers in the USA. For the time being the UK and USA facilities remain open with staff working from home wherever possible and employees self-isolating if they are experiencing any flu like symptoms. 

In this market environment, the Board is focused on limiting the impact on the Group's revenue and profitability, as well as to our customers and employees. It is a rapidly changing situation and, as yet, we are not able to forecast the full impact. The Group's balance sheet was significantly strengthened through the fundraising completed earlier this year and positions us well against the current economic climate. The planned expansion of our US facility has been put on hold until the outlook becomes clearer. Further updates will be provided in due course.

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Notes to Editors:

Tricorn is a value-added manufacturer and specialist manipulator of pipe and tubing assemblies to niche markets worldwide in the Energy and Transportation sectors.

Headquartered in Malvern, UK, Tricorn employs around 300 employees and has five manufacturing facilities in China, USA and UK.