By Dipo Olowookere
In the first quarter of 2022, the country’s leading brewery firm, Nigerian Breweries Plc, recorded a significant increase in the revenue generated and the profits.
The Q1 2022 results of the company showed that the net turnover stood at N137.8 billion compared with N105.7 billion generated in the corresponding period of last year.
With N75.3 billion used as cost of sales versus the N66.0 billion of Q1 2021, the brewer posted a gross profit of N62.5 billion in the first three months of this year in contrast to the N39.7 billion reported in the first three months of 2021.
Nigerian Breweries disclosed that it spent N32.1 billion for marketing and distribution costs in the period under review, higher than N19.8 billion spent for the same purposes a year ago, while administrative expenses gulped N7.5 billion as against the N5.8 billion expended in Q1 of 2021.
The firm said it generated N859.4 million from other income in the first quarter of the year, higher than the N368.0 million of the same quarter of last year, while finance income raked in N73.5 million versus N25.4 million in Q1 2021, with finance costs dropping to N1.2 billion from N2.4 billion.
According to the financial statements released to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday, the firm had a profit before tax of N20.8 billion in the period under consideration compared with the N11.5 billion last year, but the N7.2 billion income tax expense (vs N3.9 billion in Q1’22) left the post-tax profit at N13.6 billion, though higher than N7.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
With the economy fully re-opened and COVID-19 restrictions fully eased by the federal government, Nigerian Breweries is expected to sustain its growth trajectory in the second quarter of the year despite inflationary pressures.
Business Post reports that investors were impressed with the performance of the company in the first three months of 2022, triggering a buying pressure on its stocks, gaining 9.86 per cent to trade at N53.50 in contrast to the preceding session’s value of N48.70.
