DFDS has suspended its profit guidance for 2020 while halting dividend payments.
The Danish ro-ro giant has given up trying to predict its performance in the light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen more and more restrictions placed on intra-European travel and general lock-down measures across Europe.
"This has significantly reduced financial visibility and the outlook for 2020 is therefore suspended," the operator said.
The outlook will be updated once it is possible to assess the financial impact of Covid-19, the company added.
"Among other things, more visibility is required on the duration of the lock-downs and demand development thereafter," DFDS said.
The board will recommend at its annual general meeting in April that dividends will not be paid.
DFDS has closed one passenger route, from Copenhagen to Oslo, and the Amsterdam to Newcastle crossing will be stopped from 22 March.
English Channel and Baltic Sea crossings are only available for "essential travel", the company said, but they will continue to operate as they are more weighted to freight.
Passenger ferry services generated around 16% of DFDS' total revenue of DKK 17bn ($2.45bn) in 2019.
The company had already cancelled the AGM scheduled for Wednesday. DFDS has also cancelled crew changeovers and is trying to repatriate crew.
Brexit? What Brexit?
As recently as 6 February, the company only had Brexit to worry about.
This took a 16% chunk out of its profit for 2019, even though it saw an uptick in revenue during the year.
Chief executive Torben Carlsen said at that time that DFDS saw "continued headwind" in 2020.
"Most importantly, we have to be cautious on the UK market outlook due to uncertainty about the Brexit outcome," he added.
"On the positive side, our strategic initiatives are moving forward as planned and therefore I still expect earnings to grow in 2020."
Ebitda was forecast to be between DKK 3.5bn and DKK 3.9bn this year, with a 4% growth in revenue.
Now it says that, as anticipated in its earlier guidance for 2020, freight volumes linked to the UK were for the first two months of 2020 lower than last year as volumes in the first quarter of 2019 were boosted by UK stockpiling.
The result for the first two months of 2020 was overall in line with expectations.
"Until now freight activity has been in line with expectations but has started to decrease as manufacturing plants suspend operations and demand in general is impacted by the lock-downs," DFDS said.
"Contingency planning to mitigate effects of changes in demand and operations for both ferry and logistics activities is ongoing across DFDS' network."
