Patterson Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDCO) today provided an
update on the impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s operations and
withdrew its fiscal year 2020 financial guidance.
Keeping our Employees and Communities Safe While Maintaining
Business Continuity
Patterson has implemented various precautionary measures to
protect the health and safety of our employees and support our
communities’ efforts to control the spread of COVID-19, while
maintaining the continuity of our business operations. These
measures have included facilitating work from home, restricting
travel and implementing a number of other recommended best
practices in our headquarters, branch offices and fulfillment
centers. Patterson also took swift action to adjust or postpone
non-essential projects to ensure the organization remains focused
on meeting the needs of its customers. Patterson’s fulfillment
centers and the Patterson Technology Center remain open and
continue to provide essential products and services to our
customers.
Fiscal 2020 Financial Guidance
Through the first two months of Patterson’s fiscal fourth
quarter, the Company remained on track to achieve its fiscal 2020
financial guidance, which was issued on February 27, 2020. Entering
the last month of our fiscal year, COVID-19, and measures taken by
various authorities in response to the pandemic, have directly and
indirectly impacted demand for dental and companion animal products
and services. Given the disruption of North American and
international market conditions and the inability to accurately
predict the economic effects of COVID-19 and related government
actions, Patterson is withdrawing its fiscal 2020 financial
guidance.
“Patterson’s top priority is the health and safety of our
employees, our communities and our customers. I am proud of the way
our team is working together to respond to this crisis while
continuing to provide our customers with the essential products and
services they depend on,” said Mark S. Walchirk, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Patterson. “The steps we have taken to
enhance our core business, improve our efficiency and strengthen
our performance have better positioned Patterson as we navigate
this unprecedented disruption. We are actively managing our
response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to take
additional steps to support our business and our customers as the
situation evolves. Although we are not providing updated guidance
at this time, we remain confident in the fundamentals and long-term
strength of our businesses.”
About Patterson Companies Inc.
Patterson Companies Inc. (Nasdaq: PDCO) connects dental and
animal health customers in North America and the U.K. to the latest
products, technologies, services and innovative business solutions
that enable operational and professional success. Our comprehensive
portfolio, distribution network and supply chain is equaled only by
our dedicated, knowledgeable people who deliver unrivalled
expertise and unmatched customer service and support. Learn more:
pattersoncompanies.com
The U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements to
encourage companies to provide prospective information, so long as
those statements are identified as forward-looking and are
accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those disclosed in the statement.
This press release contains, and our officers and
representatives may from time to time make, certain
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor
provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements regarding future financial performance,
and the objectives and expectations of management. Forward-looking
statements often include words such as “believes,” “expects,”
“anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks” or words of
similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs, such as “will,”
“should,” “could” or “may.” Forward-looking statements are neither
historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead,
they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and
assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and
strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy
and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements
relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties,
risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict
and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results
and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated
in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not place
undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements.
Any number of factors could affect our actual results and cause
such results to differ materially from those contemplated by any
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the
following: uncertainties regarding the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on our business or the economy generally; the effects of
the highly competitive dental and animal health supply markets in
which we compete; general economic conditions, including political
and economic uncertainty; our dependence on relationships with
sales representatives, service technicians and customers; potential
disruption of distribution capabilities, including service issues
with third-party shippers; our dependence on suppliers for the
manufacture and supply of the products we sell; the risk that
private label sales could adversely affect our sales of other
products; our dependence on positive perceptions of Patterson’s
reputation; litigation risks, including new or unanticipated
litigation developments; changes in consumer preferences;
fluctuations in quarterly financial results; risks from the
expansion of customer purchasing power; increased competition from
third-party online commerce sites; the risks inherent in
international operations, including currency fluctuations; the
effects of health care reform; failure to comply with regulatory
requirements and data privacy laws; risks from disruption to our
information systems; cyberattacks or other privacy or data security
breaches; volatility in the financial markets; volatility in the
price of our common stock; our dependence on our senior management;
disruptions from our enterprise resource planning system
initiatives; and risks associated with interest rate fluctuations.
In addition, with respect to COVID-19, we are currently unable to
reasonably estimate the specific extent, or duration, of the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on our financial and operating results.
Although we are already experiencing reduced demand, we are unable
to predict how significantly the pandemic will reduce demand for
services provided by dentists and veterinarians, the effect of such
decreased demand on the demand for the dental and companion animal
products and services we distribute, or the impact of the pandemic
on the overall healthcare infrastructure in the United States,
Canada or the United Kingdom. In addition to the impact on
procedure volumes, we are experiencing and may experience other
disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example,
disruptions or potential disruptions include restrictions on the
ability of our personnel to travel and access customers for sales,
service and other support; supplier disruptions; and additional
government requirements to “shelter at home” or other incremental
mitigation efforts that may further impact our capacity to sell and
service the products we distribute. Furthermore, the economic
effects of the pandemic and other governmental actions could reduce
the demand for production animals, thereby adversely affecting our
production animal supply business. The total impact of these
disruptions could have a material impact on the Company’s financial
condition, cash flows and results of operations. The order in which
these factors appear should not be construed to indicate their
relative importance or priority. We caution that these factors may
not be exhaustive, accordingly, any forward-looking statements
contained herein should not be relied upon as a prediction of
actual results.
You should carefully consider these and other relevant factors,
including those risk factors in Part I, Item 1A, (“Risk Factors”)
in our most recent Form 10-K, and information which may be
contained in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, or SEC, when reviewing any forward-looking
statement. Investors should understand it is impossible to predict
or identify all such factors or risks. As such, you should not
consider the foregoing list, or the risks identified in our SEC
filings, to be a complete discussion of all potential risks or
uncertainties.
Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release
is based only on information currently available to us and speaks
only as of the date on which it is made. We do not undertake any
obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking
statements whether written or oral, that may be made from time to
time, whether as a result of new information, future developments
or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200406005198/en/
John M. Wright, Investor Relations Patterson Companies
Inc. john.wright@pattersoncompanies.com
pattersoncompanies.com
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