Leclanché update on fire at corporate headquarters in Switzerland on 22 May
All staff were evacuated and are safe. Alternative plan for business continuity is being implemented.
Share trading of Leclanché resumed at 9 am CET this morning.
YVERDON LES BAINS, Switzerland, 23nd May 2017: Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN), one of the world's leading energy storage solution companies, today provided an update on the fire that took place and was extinguished yesterday at the company's corporate headquarters at Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland.
All Leclanché personnel were evacuated quickly and safely from the fire, which started in the lobby of Leclanché's office building and was caused by a single third- party battery system using third-party battery cells, and their proprietary modules and battery management software.
The fire was largely contained within Leclanché's lobby and it was brought under control within two hours of it starting at 1130am.
The fire did not reach Leclanché's adjoining production building though smoke was widely spread throughout the company's premises. The affected areas are being cleaned by specialist personnel.
By yesterday evening, the fire department gave access to the property to Leclanché's health and safety team and insurance company.
Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, said: "The health and safety of our employees is our absolute priority and everyone was evacuated quickly and safely. We now have specialist teams cleaning our facilities and ensuring that they are safe.
"We anticipate a return to business as usual across most of the organisation by early next week. In the meantime, all of our managers and team leaders are available via email and mobile phones. We thank our customers and suppliers for their kind messages of support and would like to assure them that we will continue to provide them with our dedicated services, however there might be a slight delay in our response this week for which we request their understanding.
"Our heartfelt thanks goes to the emergency services, Yverdon les Bains's municipal services as well as the other professional teams that we are working with, for the tremendous support given to Leclanché and our community. We would also like to thank our good neighbours, Boxer, for their immediate and continued support."
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About Leclanché
Leclanché is one of the world's leading, vertically integrated, energy storage solution providers. It delivers a wide range of energy storage solutions for homes, small offices, industry, electricity grids, as well as solutions for transport such as electric buses and marine applications. Established in 1909, Leclanché has been a trusted provider of battery energy storage solutions for over 100 years.
Leclanché is listed on the Swiss stock exchange, and is the only listed, pure-play, energy storage company in the world.
SIX Swiss Exchange: ticker symbol LECN | ISIN CH 011 030 311 9
Disclaimer
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to Leclanché's business, which can be identified by terminology such as "strategic", "proposes", "to introduce", "will", "planned", "expected", "commitment", "expects", "set", "preparing", "plans", "estimates", "aims", "would", "potential", "awaiting", "estimated", "proposal", or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding the ramp up of Leclanché's production capacity, potential applications for existing products, or regarding potential future revenues from any such products, or potential future sales or earnings of Leclanché or any of its business units.
You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of Leclanché regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that Leclanché's products will achieve any particular revenue levels. Nor can there be any guarantee that Leclanché, or any of the business units, will achieve any particular financial results.
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Contacts
Media contacts:
Desirée Maghoo
T: +44 (0)7775 522740
E-mail: dmaghoo@questorconsulting.com
Simon Barker
T:+44 (0)7866 314331
E-mail: sbarker@questorconsulting.com
Investor and analyst contacts :
Anil Srivastava / Hubert Angleys
E-Mail: invest.leclanche@leclanche.com
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