Nigerian Breweries Posts N91bn Revenue, N8bn Profit in Q1

Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced a revenue of N91.388 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, up from N88.446 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. According to the unaudited and provisional results filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the company expended N8.11 billion on excise duty, a jump from N5.479 billion in 2018, while cost of sale rose from N44.948 billion to N48.223 billion in 2019.

The brewing firm reduced administrative expenses from N5.231 billion to N4.599 billion. Net finance cost rose from N2.414 billion to N2.599 billion. Profit before tax fell from N15.249 billion to N11.457 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) fell from N10.2 billion to N8.025 billion in 2019.

In the statement, the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, said that the increase in net revenue was offset by higher excise.

“Cost of sales increased by 7.3 per cent primarily driven by raw materials and consumables while marketing and distribution expenses increased 7.9 per cent over the same period in 2018. Administrative expenses reduced by 12 per cent, partially driven by the right sizing exercise undertaken by the company in third quarter (Q3), 2018. The impact of inflation and currency devaluation was minimized by the continued focus on cost efficiencies delivered through Cost Leadership initiatives,” he said.

According to Agbebaku, the 2019 operating environment so far, has shown similarities with the difficult environment witnessed in 2018, adding that “notwithstanding, the board remains confident that it has a clear strategy to deliver good return on investment.”

The company recently applied to raise up to N15 billion in the first and second series of its N100 billion commercial paper to support its short term funding. The series 1 which is for 90 days has an effect yield of 11.59 per cent and will mature on July 22, 2019. On the other hand, the Series 2, which is for 182 days has an effective yield of 14.43 per cent. It will mature on October 22, 2019.