Just two weeks of coronavirus shutdowns hammered Aramark’s revenue and profits

Aramark, the Philadelphia food- and uniform-services giant that has seen chunks of its business disappear because of the coronavirus pandemic, said Wednesday that the crisis reduced its revenue by $325 million in the quarter ended March 27.

That loss from roughly two weeks last month amounts to about 8% of the revenue Aramark expected in the quarter, which saw the closure of schools and universities where Aramark services meals and the suspension of events in arenas where the company sells beers and hot dogs. Compared with the same quarter a year ago, revenue is down 5.4%, Aramark said.

The hit to operating income of about 30% was even greater. Aramark said in its release on preliminary quarterly results that its adjusted operating income was $70 million lower than it would have been without the coronavirus-related disruptions. The final figure is expected to be in the range of $157 million to $167 million when the company reports final results next month.

Aramark said it had taken steps before the end of the quarter to reduce expenses, such as renegotiating client contracts and reducing salaries for executives. The company did not say how many of its 150,000 employees in U.S. food service operations, many of them part timers who are not paid if operations shut down, had been furloughed.

Aramark, which had $6.8 billion in net debt at the end of March, also said it planned to borrow $1.25 billion for general expenses. Lenders agreed to provide more flexibility under its loan agreements.

Aramark’s stock, which closed Wednesday at $23.05 a share (up $12.82), has lost about half its value since the start of the year.