Foremost brewer, Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc, has announced revenue of N83.278 billion for the first quarter of 2019.
According to the unaudited and provisional results submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the N83.278 billion revenue represents a 0.4 percent increase over the N82.966 billion declared in the comparable period in 2018.
The company made a profit after tax of N8.026 billion during the period, a decline of 21.4 percent from the N10.204 billion recorded in the same period of 2018.
A statement signed by the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, indicated an increase in net revenue was offset by higher excise duty following new excise duty regime introduced last year.
The cost of sales increased by 7.3 percent, which was primarily influenced by raw materials and consumables, while marketing and distribution expenses increased by 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 third quarter (Q3) 2018. Also, the company’s total assets stood at N388.81 billion slightly lower than N388.586 billion recorded in 2018, while total shareholders’ equity went up by 0.11 percent to N174.92 billion from N174.73 billion in 2018.
The company stated that the impact of inflation and currency devaluation was minimized by the continued focus on cost efficiencies delivered through Cost Leadership initiatives.
According to Agbebaku, the 2019 operating environment so far has shown similarities with the difficult environment witnessed in 2018. “Notwithstanding, the Board remains confident that it has a clear strategy to deliver good returns on investment.”
