By Chinwendu Obienyi
Despite economic pressures buffeting economic actors in the country, Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced that its revenue for the first nine months (9M) of 2023, rose from N393 billion in 2022 to N402 billion.
This remarkable feat, represents a 2 per cent as the company’s unaudited financial statement for the third quarter (nine months) ended 31st September 2023, revealed that the revenue increase was supported by price increases in its products.
According to a statement signed by the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, the increase in revenue was recorded despite a decline in sales volume caused by the continuing pressure on disposable income and the socio-political challenges in various parts of the country.
Agbebaku noted that due to the lower sales volume, rising input costs as a result of the high rate of inflation and the devaluation of the naira as well as a one-off restructuring cost, the operating profit declined by 23 per cent from N36 billion in 2022 to N28 billion in the current period.
Furthermore, due to higher interest costs and a huge increase in foreign exchange losses due to the devaluation of the naira, the Company recorded a loss after tax of N57 billion during the period.
Analysing the company’s results, Cordros Research, noted that gross margin expanded by 236 basis points (bps) year-on-year (y/y) to 32.3 per cent as against 30 per cent recorded in the same period of 2022 following the slower growth in cost of sales (+0.7 per cent y/y) in the period. According to them, the company’s efforts at reducing imports and shifting to locally sourced primary ingredients like sorghum, a key component in lager production, contributed to managing costs.