The railway wagon manufacturer said that owing to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) the operations of Titagarh Firema SpA, Italy, the company's subsidiary (TFA) have been affected adversely.

Following its alarming spread in Italy and in line with the advisory issued by the local Government, TFA's board at its meeting held on Monday has, after deliberations and emphasizing that the health and safety of all the employees/stakeholders of TFA being of paramount concern, authorized the chief executive officer (CEO) of TFA to discuss with all concerned including workers' union and in line with the advisory issued by the Government of Italy on precautions to deal with the COVID-19, temporarily suspend the operations, initially for a period of fifteen days while having a few of the personnel who would either work from home or when possible at the facilities (whose presence thereat is unavoidable) subject to safety precautions to be taken in this respect. The CEO shall closely monitor the situation and take all possible steps to ensure that the operations are resumed at the earliest.

In view of the force majeure conditions, financial impact of the above is not ascertainable at this stage. However it may be noted that the Government of Italy is actively contemplating evolving a system to support the entities impacted by such force majeure conditions. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday.

In seven trading sessions, the stock has corrected by 35.57% from its recent closing high of Rs 42.45 recorded on 5 March 2020.

On a consolidated basis, the railway wagon maker reported a net profit of Rs 7.82 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against a net loss of Rs 23.39 crore in Q3 December 2018. Net sales in the December quarter of FY20 rose 20.5% YoY to Rs 454.16 crore.

Titagarh Wagons is a railway wagon manufacturer based out of Titagarh, West Bengal, India. The company manufactures coaches for the Indian Railways, bailey bridges, and mining equipment. A subsidiary, Titagarh Marine, operates in the shipbuilding industry.