NIGERIA – Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading food and agro-allied companies, has achieved impressive top-line and bottom-line growth in the year ended March 31, 2021, showing resilient performance in the face of the pandemic.

The owner of the iconic Golden Penny Food brand, has recorded a 34.5% rise in revenue from N573.77 billion (US$1.3 billion) of the previous corresponding period to N771.6 billion (US$1.8 billion).

The growth has been attributed to robust growth across all its segments with an average revenue gain of 34 per cent across all business sectors.

In the food segment, the company recorded a 33.5 percent year-on-year growth to N478.3 billion (US$1.16 billion) and the agro-allied division witnessed a 32.2 percent revenue growth to N139.4 billion (US$338.9m), primarily driven by higher volumes and strategic allocation.

The company’s total sugar revenue grew by 27.7 percent year on year to N124.6 billion (US$302m), driven by volume growth and focus on profitable categories.

Meanwhile, its support segment revenue grew the most at 136.9 percent year on year, driven by the increase in volumes.

Flour Mills of Nigeria profit jumped by 126 per cent to US$62.54m

Commenting on the results, the Group Managing Director, Mr. Omoboyede Olusanya said, “FMN emerges from the prevailing COVID-19 environment as a stronger, more resilient, flexible, and confident business as a result of the collective strategic actions made over our 60-year history.

“I want to thank all our employees for their patience and hard work as we consistently adapted to the year’s challenges and invested significantly in our purpose of feeding the nation every day.”

According to reports by Business a.m, the cost of sales grew by 30.9 percent expanding its gross margin by 2.4 percentage points to 13.8 percent in FY2021.

Flour Mills’ admin expenses soared high as its selling & distribution and administrative expenses rose by a significant 30.2 percent and 24.4 percent to N12.1 billion (US$29.4m) and N29.0 billion (US$70m) in 2021, respectively.

This resulted in a marginal expansion of the company’s operating margin by 0.7 percentage points, as the robust operating performance was offset by a significant jump in costs and net operating losses of N15.5 billion (US$37.69m), against the operating gain of N4.9 billion (US$11.91m) in FY20.

Meanwhile, the group’s finance income rose to N3.7 billion (US$9m) due to increased interest income; and decreased net finance costs by 6.6% to N15.0 billion (US$36m), resulting from better cost and financial management strategy.

This led to its profit before tax jumping by 112 per cent to N37.19 billion (US$90m) from N17.50 billion (US$42.5m), while profit after tax grew faster by 126 per cent to N25.72 billion (US$62.54m) compared with N11.38 billion (US$27.67m) the preceding year.

“FMN is now harvesting the fruits of these efforts and remains committed to braving a continuously uncertain environment with cautious optimism, innovation, portfolio advancement and other strategies outlined in our recent sustainability report,” said Mr Olusanya

In the year under review, FMN successfully issued N30 billion (US$72.95m) in corporate notes with tenors of 5 and 7 years at 5.50 per cent and 6.25 per cent, respectively, to strategically replace costly short-term facilities.

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