By Dipo Olowookere
There is no doubt that the lockdown imposed on major cities in Nigeria by the federal government in the second quarter of 2020 and eased in the third quarter took its toll on many businesses.
One of the worst-hit sectors was the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry and Tantalizers Plc, a firm listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), was not spared.
This week, the company released its financials for the third quarter of the year and it was not palatable and the reason is not far-fetched.
An analysis of the results by Business Post showed that the fast-food company recorded a loss before and after tax of N245.0 million. This was against the pre-tax profit of N33.4 million achieved in 2019 and a post-tax profit of N22.2 million declared last year.
A look at the topline of the financial statements showed a similar situation as the revenue generated in the first nine months of the year went down to N655.9 million from N1.3 billion.
Also, the cost of sales reduced to N355.4 million from N729.7 million as the gross profit decreased to N300.5 million from N534.9 million.
It was further revealed that other income shrank to N114.9 million from N268.3 million and this was because of the decline in the rent income to N80.3 million from N109.7 million and a significant slump in the franchise income to N56.8 million in the period under review from N111.1 million in the same time of last year.
Tantalizers also said its administrative expenses reduced to N606.2 million from N940.9 million and this can be attributed to the closure of business for the most part of Q2 2020.
During this period, most restaurants were not allowed to operate and this reduced the overhead costs normally incurred by companies.
In view of this, Tantalizers was left with an operating loss of N189.3 million in Q3 2020 compared with the operating profit of N127.1 million recorded in Q3 of 2019.
In the first nine months of this year, Tantalizers said it had finance costs of N55.7 million as against the N94.4 million paid last year and this was interest paid on the restructured N469.5 million loan it obtained from Ecobank, which is due in 2020.
Adedapo Adesanya