Duni Group Affected by COVID-19 Restrictions, Applies for Financial Support

Duni Group's sales and earnings during the first quarter continue to be strongly affected by the societal restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Extended restrictions have also led to increased opportunities to apply for state aid and the Group has today decided to apply for support for the German operations.

The restrictions that were introduced in several of the group's main markets already during the fourth quarter have largely been extended or strengthened during the first months of the year, which has meant limited or closed operations for most of our customer segments. However, the positive trend for take-away continues and has good effects.

As previously described, the group has an action program where production capacity and costs are adapted to demand. In 2020, a total of cost reductions of approximately SEK 270 million were realized, of which approximately SEK 80 million relates to state aid. With the current market situation, the action program will continue at the beginning of the year. This means, among other things, great cost control and continued cost-time layoffs in the markets where this is possible. We are also continuously exploring opportunities for government support in all our markets.

In January 2021, the German government announced that it was expanding the possibility of applying for state aid for fixed costs during the period November 2020 to June 2021 for companies whose net sales decreased significantly as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. We assess that Duni Group's German subsidiaries are qualified to receive support and have therefore today decided to submit an application for the first four months of the period. Thereafter, the application is intended to be made monthly insofar as the support remains and the business is qualified for support. It is currently uncertain how much of the support we will be able to receive. It is estimated that this is between SEK 5–15 million per month.

The complete result for the first quarter will be published on April 22 at 07.45. A telephone conference will be held at 10.00 with the president and CEO, Robert Dackeskog, and CFO, Magnus Carlsson.

Duni Group is the market leader in attractive, environmentally friendly and functional products for table setting and take-away. The Group markets and sells two brands, Duni and BioPak, which are represented in over 40 markets. Duni Group has approximately 2,400 employees in 24 countries with headquarters in Malmö and production in Sweden, Germany, Poland, New Zealand and Thailand. Duni AB is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm under the short name. ISIN code is SE0000616716.

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