Corona-Virus

Haagen-Dazs closes about half of Greater China stores on coronavirus fears

Feb 18 (Reuters) - General Mills Inc <GIS.N> said on Tuesday

nearly half of its Haagen-Dazs ice-cream shops in Greater China
had been temporarily closed, amid the rapid spread of the
coronavirus in the world's second biggest economy.
    The epidemic, which has claimed nearly 1,900 lives, has
forced companies with significant exposure to China to
temporarily shut stores. Some have also warned of a hit to their
earnings.
    General Mills said it could not quantify the impact of the
outbreak on its fiscal 2020 results at the time, although it
reaffirmed its forecast for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020.
    The Greater China region accounts for about 4% of the
company's net sales, with Haagen-Dazs shops and other
foodservice outlets making up about 40% of that.
    The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company said Haagen-Dazs
stores that remained open were operating under severely
restricted hours.
    The company operated 525 Haagen-Dazs ice-cream parlors and
franchised 365 more outside of the United States and Canada.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli)