By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Nigerian Breweries Plc has expressed optimism that it would at the end of the day make shareholders of the company happy.
This message of hope was conveyed in a statement signed by the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Mr Uaboi Agbebaku.
This week, Nigerian Breweries released the financial statements of the brewery firm for the first quarter of this year and the company announced a revenue of N83.3 billion, which is a 0.4 percent growth over the N82.97 billion made in the corresponding period in 2018.
However, the marginal increase in net revenue for the period under review was offset by higher excise duty following the excise duty regime introduced in 2018. Also, Cost of Sales increased by 7.3 percent primarily driven by Raw Materials and Consumables while Marketing and Distribution expenses increased 7.9 percent over the same period in 2018. Administrative Expenses reduced by 12 percent, partially driven by the right sizing exercise undertaken by the Company in Q3, 2018.
The Q1 2019 Profit after Tax is lower than the N10.2 billion recorded in the same period in 2018, signifying a 21.4 percent decline.
In the statement, Mr Agbebaku said the impact of inflation and currency devaluation was minimized by the continued focus on cost efficiencies delivered through Cost Leadership initiatives.
According to Mr Agbebaku, the 2019 operating environment so far, has shown similarities with the difficult environment witnessed in 2018, emphasising that notwithstanding, the board remains confident that it has a clear strategy to deliver good return on investment.
