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)

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