Dorel Industries Inc. says its suppliers based in China delayed re-opening following the Chinese New Year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with production delayed by two weeks in most cases.

It says the temporary lack of workers disrupted its supply chain for several weeks and, while most factories in the country are now back in operation and are shipping, they are not yet at normal levels.

Dorel made the comments as it reported a fourth-quarter loss of US$639,000 compared with a loss of US$443.9 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the loss amounted to two cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 30 compared with a loss of US$13.68 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue slipped to US$653.4 million compared with US$683.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.

On an adjusted basis, Dorel says it earned US$2.3 million or seven cents per diluted share in its fourth quarter compared with an adjusted profit of US$10.3 million or 31 cents per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.