The Board of Directors of Nigerian Breweries Plc has declared a Profit after Tax (PAT) of N10.45 billion for the First Quarter of 2016. The unaudited and provisional results released to The Nigerian Stock Exchange show that the N10.45 billion PAT represents a 4 per cent increase over the N10.10 billion declared in the corresponding period in 2015.
The Company’s Revenue for the period grew by 11 per cent from N69.92 billion in 2015 to N77.55 billion in the current period. A further analysis shows that the Results from Operating Activities improved by 10 per cent from N16.37 billion in the first three months of 2015 to N17.99 in the corresponding months in 2016.
A statement by the Board of the Directors said the 11% growth in Revenue was a reflection of the Company’s strong and effective route to market, increased sales during the festive Easter period as well as higher number of sales days in the period as against the lower number of days recorded in the corresponding period of 2015 due to the general elections. According to the statement, despite the current challenging operating environment leading to consumer down-trading, rising inflation, increased cost of financing due to higher foreign exchange cost and increased input cost amongst others, the Company was still able to return the 4% increase in Profit after Tax.The increase in profit was also helped by the one-off merger costs incurred in the first quarter of 2015.
The statement signed by the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr. Uaboi Agbebaku, further said although the Board expects the operating environment in 2016 to continue to be very challenging, it remains confident that the Company is in a good position to take advantage of any upswing in the market especially with its twin agenda of Cost Leadership and Market Leadership supported by innovation.
