Due to the impact of the pandemic on oil exploration and the collapse in demand for oil, the the Austrian oilfield equipment producer Schoeller-Bleckmann (SBO) recorded a 40 percent fall in profits for Q1. CEO Gerald Grohmann said that the current state of the global economy made it impossible how the energy industry would develop in the near-term.
SBO produced €12.1m in earnings before interest and taxes while sales for the three months to March 31 fell by 10 percent to €108.9m. By the end of March, SBO’s net debt had fallen 50 percent since the beginning of the year to €9.1 million. A large portion of SBO’s revenues originate in in North America, where the negative impact of the turmoil in energy markets has been significant.