Over the first quarter of 2020, Tunisian company Sotemail posted a turnover down 36.7% compared to the same period in 2019. Income dropped by 30.9% to TND9.1 million.

Outside the local market, sales fell by a record 95.8%. However, the company that manufactures and markets ceramic tiles for wall and floor coverings achieved a good performance in 2019 with export sales up 370% in the first quarter.

“The pandemic that has been spreading rapidly around the world since January has harmed international trade,” the company says, justifying this underperformance.

Sotemail, which officially suspended its production and distribution activities on 21 March 2020 due to the current health crisis, does not make any projections for the coming quarter. The company assures that it will be able to “return to normal business as soon as the crisis ends.”

During the three months of the financial year ending March 21, 2020, Sotemail chose to reduce its investments by 56.4%. However, the company did not manage to stabilize its debt with a total banking commitment of TND42.3 million over the period against TND29.2 million in 2019.

Chamberline Moko