The entire world is currently facing an economic and health crisis with unprecedented and large-scale consequences. Our number-one objective has been and remains to safeguard the health and safety of our teams. Our second priority has been to satisfy our customers and partners by ensuring service continuity.
The commitment of our employees has been outstanding in this respect, and I would like to express to them my pride and gratitude. Our teams have also deployed their energy and expertise to contribute to the fight against the pandemic. They mobilized to study the design and manufacture of respirators, the distribution of masks to hospitals, and the production of hand sanitizer.
We made a positive start to the first quarter around the world, apart from in China, already impacted by the crisis. At the end of the quarter, most countries introduced confinement measures, while China was on its way to a recovery.
Today, we are preparing for recovery with the authorities of the countries in which we operate, the aim being for the Group to resume activity at its sites in the best possible conditions and as soon as possible. Given today’s economic and health environment, the second quarter will also be considerably impacted by the crisis.
We have protected the solidity of our cash situation and our balance sheet. We quickly took measures to adapt in order to limit as much as possible the impacts on our results without hampering the long term. As the situation evolves, we will be able to assess the full economic impact of the crisis, which will be substantial.
Groupe SEB is grounded on a solid and well-balanced business model, one that enables it to look to the future serenely and prepare for the post-crisis period.