Nigerian Breweries declares N78.16bn loss in nine months

Nigerian Breweries Plc on Wednesday declared N78.16billion loss before tax in its unaudited nine months ended September 30, 2023 over devaluation of naira.

The company on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) had declared N19.09billion profit before tax in corresponding nine months of 2022.

From the profit & loss figures, Nigerian cost Breweries yesterday also declared N57.19 billion loss after tax in nine months of 2023 from N14.76billion profit after tax posted in nine months of 2022.

Extracts from the unaudited results showed that the company reported N86.83billion net loss on foreign exchange transactions in nine months of 2023 from N10.36billion declared in nine months of 2022.

In the period under review, Nigerian Breweries posted N401.8 billion revenue, an increase of 2.1per cent from N393.45 billion reported in corresponding period.

Cost of sales stood at N249.24billion in nine months of 2023, an increase of 4.3 per cent from N23.92billion reported in nine months of 2022, while operating expenses stood at N126.78billion in nine months of 2023, representing an increase of 4.8per cent from N120.95billion reported in nine months of 2022.

The company in a statement said “Overall, volumes declined in the period under review due to continued high pressure on disposable income and the soio-political challenges in various parts of the country. However, flavoured beer volume increased led by Desperados.

“Revenue increased by a low-single digit percentage driven by pricing to mitigate inflation. The operating profit was impacted by the lower volumes, higher input costs influenced by inflation and devaluation of the naira, and a one-off restructuring cost. Pricing and significant cost savings initiatives were not enough to fully mitigate rising input costs.”

The multinational brewer maker in a statement said, a combination of foreign exchange losses due to the devaluation of the naira and higher interest costs resulted in a net loss during the period.

Over the poor performance, the company’s stock price depreciated to N38 per share on Wednesday from N39 per share it opened for trading.