By Dipo Olowookere
It was a woeful year for the independent manufacturer and distributor of the well-known and widely consumed brands of soft drinks, 7up Bottling Company Plc, as the economic situation took its toll on the firm.
In its financial year ended March 31, 2017, the company suffered a loss of N10.7 billion, making the firm not to pay dividend to its shareholders this year against N1.60 per share paid to them last year.
This is the first time in five years the firm was not paying dividend to its shareholders.
Business Post observed that 7up Bottling Company Plc posted a loss after tax of N10.7 billion in 2017 versus a profit after tax of N3.34 billion declared a year ago.
However, the firm’s turnover rose to N108.2 billion in 2017 in contrast to N85.6 billion 12 months earlier.
In addition, selling and distribution expenses jumped from N11.8 billion in 2016 to N13.9 billion in the period under review, while administrative expenses increased from N6.6 billion to N6.7 billion.
Furthermore, cost of sale recorded an upward movement from N60.6 billion in 2016 to N90.5 billion in 2017, while the gross profit depleted to N12.9 billion this year from N25 billion last year, and the finance cost rose from N3.2 billion in 2016 to N4.02 billion in 2017.
