The Quebec manufacturer of electric buses and trucks Lion Électrique is laying off 150 employees, or approximately 10% of its workforce, in order to “reduce its cost structure and improve its ability to achieve its profitability objectives,” the company announced Monday.
In a press release, the CEO and founder of Lion Électrique, Marc Bédard, underlines that this decision was “very difficult to take”, but he believes that “this initiative is the most judicious for [l’entreprise] at this stage.”
The employees affected by the announcement “mainly” occupied “production support, manufacturing, product development and administrative functions, in Canada and the United States”, details the company, without however indicating what part exact number of dismissed employees worked on each side of the border.
Losses and action at a low
At the beginning of November, during the presentation of the company’s financial results for the third quarter, Marc Bédard reiterated his ambition to achieve profitability.
However, for the moment, the company is still posting operating losses. According to its latest financial results, the company had slightly widened its net loss compared to the corresponding third quarter of 2022, from 17.2 million US dollars to 19.9 million.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, the performance of Lion’s stock is not improving. On Monday, its price was around 2.30 Canadian dollars, a level well below its peak of around 25 dollars reached in June 2021.
Last April, at the time of the inauguration of the Lion Électrique battery factory in Mirabel, the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, renewed his confidence in the company and its management, but had nevertheless signaled its concern regarding the company’s share price.
“We have to be careful not to lose these companies. When we see stock prices like this, my fear is that we are vulnerable [à une offre d’achat] “, he said.
Further details will follow.