RATIONAL Aktiengesellschaft provided earnings guidance for the second quarter of 2020. Orders began declining- dramatically in some cases - at the beginning of March and will mainly be reflected in sales revenues for the second quarter, since the average time between placement and shipment of an order is around three to four weeks. The Executive Board of Rational AG therefore expects sales revenues and earnings to drop significantly in the second quarter. The COVID-19 countermeasures have caused markets to collapse overnight; and they have paralysed the sales process. The further impact of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be assessed. The respective time frames for the pandemic and, of even more serious consequence, for the countermeasures are unknown. That makes it impossible for the management to make reliable forecasts for the next quarters and therefore for fiscal 2020 as a whole.