Nigerian Breweries recorded a net profit of N88.4 billion in the first half of the year, in contrast to a net loss of N85.2 billion a year ago, as a considerable increase in revenue boosted earnings.
Net revenue for the six months to June accelerated to N738.1 billion from N479.8 billion a year ago, according to its unaudited financials released on Tuesday, setting the tone for a much-improved bottom line.
The beer maker turned the tables on a N112.3 billion net loss on foreign exchange transactions that threw its earnings into the negative territory a year earlier by posting a net gain of N7.3 billion in the review period.
Selling and distribution expenses rose 34.5 per cent to N130.7 billion, while administrative expenses climbed to N28.8 billion from N23.8 billion.
“The performance in the first half of the year was driven by sustained innovation, strong commercial execution, optimising the right pricing strategies amidst rising input costs, further improvement in cost management, and enhanced operational efficiencies,” Nigerian Breweries said in a separate statement.
“The Company also benefited from the prudent utilisation of the proceeds of the Rights Issue, which were used for overall debt reduction and elimination of foreign currency-denominated debt, which resulted in a significant reduction of the net financing costs by 87%,” it added.
Profit before tax stood at N132.2 billion, in contrast to a pre-tax loss of N116.3 billion a year ago.
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The net profit margin, which indicates how much revenue has been translated into net profit, stood at 12 per cent.
Turnover for the second quarter jumped 40.8 per cent to N354.5 billion, while after-tax profit for the period came to N43.9 billion, in contrast to a post-tax loss of N33.1 billion.
Total assets advanced by 0.5 per cent to N1.11 trillion from N1.10 trillion. The stock has returned 131 per cent since the start of the year.
