HELIOS’S UPDATE ON THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) OUTBREAK

The global health situation continues to be extremely tense also in 2022, with a new wave of Covid-19 infections spreading rapidly across Europe. According to specialists Omicron is much more transmittable than other variants so far, albeit with milder symptoms. The health and safety of our employees and stakeholders remains our primary concern. To counteract a spread of the new Covid-19 variant among our employees, we are doing our utmost to reduce physical contacts within the company.

• Employees are still working in home offices, where possible.
• We split employees to shifts/team, where possible, to minimize the possibility of critical contacts.
• Business trips, meetings, trainings, educational activities and events are still preferably conducted via virtual communication platforms.
• We follow the official recommendations regarding the wearing of FFP2 masks, distances and hygiene measures at all KANSAI HELIOS locations.

Unfortunately, we cannot promise that the number of infections and thus employee absences will not also increase in our company, which might result in delivery delays as well. But we assure you that we will do everything in our power to meet delivery dates and keep business operations efficiently.

As government restrictions to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) are loosening in majority of countries where HELIOS operates, employees working from home are gradually returning back to the offices. At the same time, several measures and guidelines concerning hygiene standards, organization of meetings and events, visitors and external contractors at HELIOS premises as well business trips limitations still apply.

Your standard contacts within HELIOS companies remain available to you, however we are still preferring long-distance alternatives, such as phone-conference calling or Skype calls, rather than meetings in person. We will inform you through your standard contacts about new dates or alternative options for events, meetings, conferences and trainings that were postponed or cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

At HELIOS, we have introduced several measures since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in order to avoid disruptions of our operations as well to ensure safe working conditions for our employees. During these challenging times our core values, responsibility, customer focus, speed & efficiency and professionalism reflect more than ever in everything we do. We are consistently doing utmost to provide best possible service and to meet our customers’ expectations.

Our production sites are operating with only minor disruptions, considering local restrictions and measures. Similarly, we are experiencing minimal disruptions to our raw material supplies. As the situation with the suppliers across the Europe and transport companies changes daily, please note that some delays in our deliveries and longer waiting times are possible.

In accordance with local government ordinances, this week we have reopened our retail stores for DIY customers in Slovenia, while our retail stores in Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia have already been opened in previous weeks.

Furthermore, we would like to inform you that our production site Helios TBLUS in Slovenia will not operate between April 27, 2020 and May 1, 2020, due to the public holidays. However, our logistic operations will remain undisrupted, therefore please align your shipments through your standard contacts.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this exceptional situation.

At HELIOS, the situation regarding operation of our productions sites and raw material supplies remains unchanged and is very much the same as last week. The same applies to the measures taken to ensure health and safety of our employees and other stakeholders.

To stem the spread of coronavirus, Russia prolonged its preventive measures and non-working period until April 30, 2020. Since the authorities draw up different measures by regions, please turn to your standard contacts within HELIOS for more information and updates on shipments and deliveries.

All HELIOS production sites are currently running with only minor disruptions, despite many of our employees now working from home. Similarly, we are experiencing minimal disruptions to our raw material supplies. We are still increasing the inventories and doing our best to provide a high level of service for our customers. However, as the situation with the suppliers across the Europe and transport companies changes daily, please take into the consideration some delays in deliveries and longer waiting time. The same applies to the limited possibility to confirm orders since many countries within Europe as well as the CIS region are turning to border closures. The latest country closing its borders is Russia, starting March 30, 2020. In case there are some significant obstructions to our deliveries, we will keep you informed.

While ensuring uninterrupted flow of our operations, health and safety of our employees and other stakeholders is our primary concern. All measures we have taken in the past weeks still apply.

At the moment, all HELIOS production sites are running without disruptions, with exception of the Ecopolifix SRL company in Italy. In the last week, we additionally increased our inventories, as well packaging levels at all production sites. We are also in close communication with our suppliers in order to assess possible risks in the supply chain. At this time, we are experiencing minimal disruptions to our raw material supplies. We are doing our best to keep our service levels high. However, as the situation with the suppliers across the Europe and transport companies changes daily, please take into the consideration some delays in deliveries and longer waiting time. In case there are some significant obstructions to our deliveries, we will keep you informed.

Due to the current situation and in accordance with government ordinances from Slovenia and Austria, our retail stores for private customers are closed as of March 16, 2020. This applies to Mavrica shops in Slovenia and Fritze Lacke shops in Austria. All customers who are due to this exceptional situation unable to access our stores in Slovenia, are kindly invited to make their purchase in our online store.

At HELIOS, we are daily monitoring the situation regarding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and implementing all necessary measures while ensuring uninterrupted flow of our operations. At the same time, health and safety of our employees and other stakeholders is being our primary concern. In the last two weeks, we have prepared several guidelines and measures to maintain appropriate hygiene standards in offices, common areas and production facilities. We have also prepared additional guidelines and measures for all visitors and external contractors of HELIOS locations, and arranged dedicated areas for truck drivers.

With the aim of reducing physical contact, we have enabled our employees to work from home, where possible. We have cancelled all business trips, trainings, educational activities and events, as well other non-urgent meetings. We are still available for you through our standard contacts within HELIOS companies via emails, mobile phones and other alternative options of remote communication, such as teleconferences or Skype calls.

We hope that above mentioned measures will cause least possible disturbance on our communication, delivery and efficiency of business operations. We believe that together we will overcome the difficulties and build even stronger foundation for the time when the situation will return to normal.

For the past two months, we have been monitoring the developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak situation daily, offering guidance and regular updates. However, with the virus now detected in several places across the Europe, we are intensifying our organizational response.

All HELIOS production sites are based in Europe and are continuously running without any disruptions. At the moment, we are not aware of any cases of coronavirus spread between our employees or within our locations. In addition, HELIOS also maintains a strong position in terms of inventories and strongly developed network of multiple sources. We are also in close communication with our suppliers in order to assess possible risks in their supply chains.

At this time, we still do not anticipate any impact on our supply chain as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. As the situation in Italy changes daily and may have some impact on our supply chain, we will keep you further informed. The same applies for the operations of our company Ecopolifix, located in Italy, which currently runs separate communication with all customers and business partners.

At HELIOS, safety and health is important. That is why we have drawn up several measures and guidelines to prevent possible spread of coronavirus infection at the workplace and business trips, as well guidelines on meetings and events and visitors.

At the workplace:

• Frequently washing hands with soap and water or disinfecting hands if water and soap are not available (as directed by the national public health institutes).
• Avoiding close contacts with people who show signs of infectious disease and visitors from Italy or other high-risk coronavirus areas, Italy, China, South Korea.
• Following the rules of cough hygiene (as directed by the national public health institutes).
• In case we feel sick, we stay at home. If any employee has a family member with a coronavirus infection, they should notify their superiors.
• Avoiding enclosed spaces/rooms with large numbers of people and provide regular ventilation of enclosed spaces.
• Cleaning and regularly disinfecting objects and surfaces that we frequently touch.

On business trips:

• All trips to Italy or other high-risk coronavirus areas are banned until further notice.
• Preventive hygiene measures should be followed on all business trips. Close contacts with people who show signs of infection should be avoided.
• After returning from all business trips, we monitor our health for about 14 days – if fever, malaise and cough occur during this time, we consult doctor and stay at home.
• Employees who have been in high-risk coronavirus areas, Italy, China, South Korea in the last 14 days should immediately report this to their superiors and stay at home.

Meetings and events:

• The number of meetings, events and trainings at our locations will be reduced as much as possible and postponed to a more convenient time.
• If possible, we are using long-distance alternatives, such as phone-conference calling or Skype calls.
• We will postpone all meetings and visits of customers and business partners coming from Italy and other high-risk coronavirus areas until it is determined that the corona-situation is under control.

Visitors from outside of HELIOS:

• All visitors at HELIOS locations (customers, business partners, suppliers, contractors) must inform us whether they visited high-risk coronavirus areas, Italy, China, South Korea in the last 14 days. In such cases, the visitors are not allowed to enter the premises.
• All visitors at HELIOS locations should have their temperature checked before entering our premises. Visitors with a fever are not allowed to enter the premises.
• HELIOS will provide designated areas and facilities for suppliers, e.g. truck drivers.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this exceptional situation. Should you require any update, your regular contact persons within all HELIOS companies are at your disposal.