By Dipo Olowookere
The management of Nigerian Breweries Plc has said it may be impossible at the moment to specifically measure the financial impact of the COVID-19 on its business operations.
This disclosure was made in reaction to the financial statements of the firm for the first three months of this year, which were released on Wednesday.
However, the brewery giant said the management was paying special attention on strategies to minimise the impact on the company.
“The COVID-19 crisis continues to impact all businesses, with the effect expected to be more pronounced in the future.
“The priority for us is to protect the health, safety and welfare of our employees, customers, and partners, as well as support the government and its agencies as they work to reduce the impact of the outbreak.
“At this stage, it is not possible to determine the financial impact of COVID-19 on our company given the lack of visibility on the end date of the pandemic or on how long it would continue to impact the Nigerian economy.
“The company has a strong balance sheet and the board and management are focusing on efforts to mitigate the impact on our business,” the statement said.
In the first quarter of 2020, the revenue generated by Nigerian Breweries depreciated to N83.2 billion from N83.3 billion in March 2019, while cost of sales slightly increased to N48.3 billion from N48.2 billion, with marketing, distribution and administrative expenses rising to N24.1 billion from N21.2 billion.
The profit before tax depreciated to N8.3 billion from N11.5 billion, while the profit after tax dropped to N5.5 billion from N8.0 billion.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka