The Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price is trading lower on Tuesday following the release of a COVID-19 update.
In morning trade the conglomerate's shares are down 1.5% to $36.00.
What did Woolworths announce?
This morning Woolworths provided an update on the impact of COVID-19 on its businesses.
The company notes that over the weekend the Federal Government ordered the closure of all pubs across the country. As a result, Woolworths' Hotels business has been closed until further notice.
In response to this, as well as taking on some Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) staff, Woolworths is seeking to redeploy as many impacted Hotels team members as possible to other businesses in the group.
In light of this and current financial market conditions, the Woolworths board has made the decision to defer the separation of Endeavour Group from Woolworths Group until calendar year 2021.
Elsewhere, at present all other Woolworths businesses remain open for trading.
Management is optimistic that even if there are further mandatory closures in Australia or New Zealand, many, if not all, of its businesses will continue to operate as required services for the community.
Trading update.
Woolworths CEO, Brad Banducci, provided the market with an update on how its businesses are performing.
He said: "In recent weeks, sales growth across the Group's retail businesses has been strong (with the recent exception of Hotels), reflecting unprecedented demand for a range of products as customers have consumed more at home and stocked their pantries."
Though, he acknowledged that this has created challenges across the supply chain in keeping up with demand, which has led to shortages on store shelves. Pleasingly, the company has been working with its suppliers and logistics partners in improving the flow of product into stores.
Guidance.
Given the significant uncertainty associated with its current sales performance, changes to customer shopping patterns, and the closure of its Hotels business, management is unable to accurately forecast the net impact of COVID-19 on its FY 2020 results.
In light of this, instead of providing guidance, management intends to provide further updates on the company's performance as and when appropriate.
