Champion Breweries reports profit growth driven by surge in sales

NIGERIA – Champion Breweries Plc, producer and marketer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Nigeria reported strong profit growth for the full year 2019.

The company’s profit rose to N169m (US$0.4m) from a loss of N264m (US$0.7m)in the previous year, driven by a 45% rise in revenue.

Gross profit jumped by 62% to N1.92bn (US$5.1m) reflecting the strong revenue growth.

Selling and distribution expenses surged by 47% to N778m (US$2.1m) which helped boost revenue and profit compared to the US$1.47m recorded in 2018.

The brewing company recently announced the appointment of Mr Georgios Polymenakos as its new Managing Director.

Mr Polymenakos comes from Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), bottlers of Coca-Cola products in Nigeria, where he was the Managing Director since 2015.

The appointment follows the resignation of Mr Patrick Ejidoh as Managing Director, who reached retirement age after 32 years of an illustrious career with Nigerian Breweries Plc.

Apart from engaging in production operations in the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, Champion Breweries Plc also provides contract brewing and packaging services to Nigerian Breweries Plc.

Champion Breweries, formerly known as Champion Breweries Limited, is under the technical supervision of its controlling shareholders, a global beverage giant Heineken NV through a 60.4% stake by Raysun Nigeria Limited.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was incorporated as a private limited liability Company in 1974 and has since then undergone changes in its ownership structure to its current status.

They began manufacturing in 1976 with a capacity of 150,000 hecto litres of Champion beer and 10,000 hecto litres of Champ Malta.

Nigeria’s alcoholic beverage sector is an increasingly lucrative industry, with market research forecasting annual consumption growth of over 6% through 2022, according to AsokoInsight.

This is slightly up on the 5% annual growth experienced between 2014 and 2016 which brought average consumption to 25.5 litres, according to the World Health Organisation.