By Dipo Olowookere
The first half of 2019 was fruitful for Nestle Nigeria Plc, going by the details of the financial statements of the firm for the period ended June 30, 2019.
For example, the revenue jerked up by 4.9 percent to N141.9 billion from N135.3 billion, buoyed by sales of the company’s products from across the country, which put N139.8 billion into the purse of the firm against N133.7 billion in the same period of last year.
Also, the finance income rose to N891.1 million from N838.2 million, with the gross profit increasing to N66.1 billion from N55.6 billion.
In the results analysed by Business Post, the cost of sales in H1 2019 reduced to N75.8 billion from N79.7 billion in H1 2018, while the administrative expenses was flat at N4.4 billion when compared with the first half of last year.
However, marketing and distribution expenses rose to N21.3 billion from N19.0 billion, while N40.4 billion was recorded for results from operating activities in the first six months of 2019 in contrast to N32.2 billion in the same time of 2018, with the finance costs decreasing this time around to N888.7 million from N1.1 billion.
In the results, Nestle Nigeria said its profit before tax in H1 2019 was N40.4 billion against N31.9 billion, while the profit after tax increased to N26.3 billion from N21.5 billion, indicating a 22.3 percent growth.
In the results, earnings per share of Nestle Nigeria improved in the first half of this year by 22.3 percent to N33.11 versus N27.07 in the half year of 2018.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Adedapo Adesanya