LISI GROUP - Integrated report 2020

LISI — 2020 INTEGRATED REPORT 69 INTERVIEW FRANÇOIS LIOTARD CEO, LISI AUTOMOTIVE How did the division deal with the impact of the crisis? LISI AUTOMOTIVE was faced with this crisis as soon as the Chinese economy was locked down on January 23, 2020, when our three local sites were placed under cover until the end of February. This first warning shot allowed us to experiment the first sanitary protocols, which were then applied to European and then American sites. We have airlifted masks for the entire division and the Group. We have also offered them to hospitals in the Belfort region, to which we donated them. The first decisions related to the safety of our employees, with the implementation of health measures which gradually allowed business to resume. We then had to maintain contact and provide service to our customers: those whose factories had restarted, as in China, or which were still operating, as in the US and Mexico. We reactivated our shipping sites by applying very strict sanitary rules. This rapid relaunch was welcomed by our customers: all recognized that the teams had lived up to the commitments made during this very special period. How did youmanage business during this delicate period? After this first restart phase, we sought to protect the cash flow, essential to the life of the company: we have lowered inventory levels, reduced production, adjusted our investments and attacked our fixed cost base, while preserving our ability to bounce back. We managed to lower our breakeven point by 19% in 2020 using all available levers: reduction in overheads and maintenance costs, implementation of a workforce adjustment plan, particularly at the head office, where we have simplified the organization of the Management Committee. These €451 m 2020 SALES 37% AS A % OF GROUP SALES 3,393 EMPLOYEES AROUND THE WORLD The crisis has confirmed the strategic choicesmade in 2019. Wewill continue to refocus onproducts with higher added value, inparticular those relating to electromobility.