Patrick Industries, responding to the coronavirus pandemic, is suspending operations at certain facilities.
“In order to continue to both balance production levels with customer demand and prioritize the well-being of our team members, as well as maintain compliance with mandates by certain state governments and other government agencies, we will be temporarily suspending operations at certain of our facilities,” said Andy Nemeth, president and CEO. “The suspensions, which are determined on a plant by plant basis, are currently expected to range from one to two weeks depending on government requirements or the demand needs of the specific markets in which we operate. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will take the appropriate actions, as needed, as they relate to our operations, the health and safety of our team members, the communities in which we operate, our customers and all our other stakeholders.
“Certain facilities where local conditions allow or that are determined to be supplying products for an essential use will continue to operate, although with an elevated focus on safety. We strive to have, and continue to implement, best practices, policies and procedures as they continually evolve in conjunction with guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and other government agencies to protect our team members, which is our highest priority.
“We believe we are well-positioned to drive our business and execute off of our operational and financial platforms in this uncertain time as we have a high variable cost, flexible business model firmly in place that allows us to quickly adjust our production levels as market conditions change,” Nemeth added. “In addition, in partnership with our incredibly dedicated and talented team members, we have enacted certain measures, and are prepared to enact further measures in the event the situation dictates, related to cost reductions in order to align our cost structure over the foreseeable future in correlation with fluctuations in industry demand.
“We have detailed tiered plans for various levels of market volatility,” he said, “and we put a capital structure in place last September for both strategic and defensive purposes, including for unanticipated situations such as this. Our financial position is strong and we believe we have ample liquidity and availability, supported by cash on hand and available borrowings under our existing revolving credit facility, to not only navigate through the business interruption related to this pandemic crisis for the foreseeable future, but to pivot and execute quickly, returning to our strategic growth plan once visibility and stability in the markets improve. We are optimistic about the long-term prospects for each of our core markets.”
