By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
Mayer Plc, a key player in the manufacturing industry and marketer of high-quality paints in Nigeria, on Friday, October 15, released its unaudited financial statement for the third quarter ending September 30, 2021.
In the quarterly filing, which was published on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, the group declared a gross profit of N254.5 million within the review period in contrast to the N206.1 million recorded in the same period of last year, indicating a 0.2 per cent year-on-year increase.
A breakdown showed that in the first nine months of this year, Meyer grew its revenue by 34 per cent to N749.2 million from N566.5 million in the first nine months of 2020, while the cost of sales gulped N504.7 million compared with N360.4 million recorded in Q3 of last year.
In the period under review, the company, which is into the production of paints, said it generated N35.9 million as other operating income in the third quarter of this year, higher than the N25.8 million it generated in the same period of last year.
This was majorly buoyed by the N31.6 million recorded in the sundry income compared with the N18.3 million recorded a year ago; and the increase in the sale of empty drums to N1.9 million from N1.8 million.
These two items ensured that the decline in the disposal of property, plant and equipment to N1.6 million from N3.2 million and a drop in the rental income to N0.8 million from N2.5 million did not have an effect on the income line.
In the financial statements analysed by Business Post, it was observed that Meyer spent N18.6 million on selling and distribution expenses in the period under consideration compared with N15.4 million used for the same purpose 12 months earlier, while the administrative costs gulped N323.4 million, lower than the N350.0 million reported in the first nine months of 2020, which was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the results, it was keenly observed that the high operating costs of the organisation resulted in an operating loss of N51.7 million, though lower than the operating loss of N133.5 million reported in Q3 2020.
If not for the higher finance income achieved in the period under review, Meyer would have still been in a mess. The finance income rose to N67.1 million from N42.3 million and with finance costs of N1.8 million, lower than the N7.2 million recorded a year ago, the profit before tax stood at N13.5 million as of September 30, 2021, in contrast to a loss before tax of N98.4 million as at September 30, 2020, while the post-tax profit stood at N9.5 million versus a post-tax loss of N100.5 million in the same period of last year.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka