For the fine and specialty paper group Lecta, the first half of 2020 was dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic and its knock-on effects. Sales and deliveries plummeted in all business areas, especially since the company's three home markets were among the European countries hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak and had some of the toughest lockdown measures. First-half sales fell from €735 min 2019 to €523m in the same period of 2020. The operating result swung sharply from a profit of nearly €23m in the first six months of 2019 to a loss of €158m in the reporting period. This was due to lower deliveries, sales and prices as well as to non-recurring items amounting to €152m, including a charge of €118m related to a goodwill impairment, and €32m of fees and costs in relation to the group's recapitalisation.
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