Nigerian Breweries profits plunge 41.2% to US$27.54m in 2018 FY

NIGERIA – Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced a profit after tax of US$27.54 million during its 2018 financial year, a decline from US$37.46 million posted in its 2017 financial year.

This represented a 41.2% decline in profits for the beverage manufacture as its revenues for the period under review also dipped to US$894.77 million from US$950.31 million in 2017.

Despite the 5.8% drop in revenues, the company saw its cost of sales depreciate by 37% from US$544.73 million to US$395.8 million, while profit before tax went down by 36.9% to US$81.16million from US$128.62 million.

A further breakdown of its financial results indicates that the gross income shrunk 11.6% to US$350.04 million in 2018 from US$395.8 million in 2017.

Additionally, cash and cash equivalents stood at US$40.8 million from US$43.77 million, representing a negative drop by 6.8% while its trade and other payables went down by 10.8% from US$352.92 million to US$ 314.87 million.

During its 2018 financial year, the company saw its net assets decline from US$491.8 million to US$460.16 million, representing a drop of 6.4%.

The producer of Amstel Malta reported a spike in total borrowing to US$117.5 million in 2018 from US$23.45 million in 2017 while total liabilities increased by 8.6% from US$562.42 million to US$610.69 million.

Nigerian Breweries also saw its total asset drop by 1.67% from US$833.56 million in 2017 to US$828.32 million in 2018 against its total equities which declined by 6.4% from US$491.81 million to US$460.09 million.

Following the results, the company said it will be offering a final dividend of N1.83 from N3.13 paid in 2017.

Last year, while releasing its nine months unaudited financial result ended September 30, 2018, the company offered to pay an interim dividend of 60 kobo for the nine months.

In a statement, the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, said that the 2018 results were adversely impacted by the increased excise duty rates that came into effect during the year and a challenging operating environment.

Nigerian Breweries Plc has unveiled plans to consolidate on its position as the race in the beer market becomes stiffer in the face of intense competition, increasing cost inflation, and weak consumer spending, reports The Independent.