, Columnist
Retailers Start Usefully Quantifying Virus Impact
Next Plc’s disclosure dashboard on possible financial outcomes of the virus crisis shows how transparency can turn investor sentiment.
Retailers are starting to put some large numbers on the impact of measures to curb the coronavirus.
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As measures to curb the coronavirus heap pressure on the global retail sector, observers have struggled to quantify the economic ramifications. There are signs that affected companies are offering some useful disclosure that may in turn help sentiment.
Adidas AG last week outlined a roughly $1 billion reduction in first quarter sales and $500 million impact on operating profit, but that was before many countries outside Asia started taking aggressive steps in response to the crisis.