The Board of Directors of Nigerian Breweries Plc has approved an interim dividend of N4,798, 141, 231 (four billion, seven hundred and ninety eight million, one hundred and forty one thousand, two hundred and thirty one Naira), that is, 60 (sixty) kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo in the share capital of the Company, for the period ended September 30, 2018.
The interim dividend, which is subject to the deduction of withholding tax, is payable on Monday, 10th December, 2018 to all shareholders registered in the books of the Company at close of business on Thursday, 22nd November, 2018.
The Company recorded a Profit After Tax of N14.7billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, while results from Operating Activities stood at N27.7billion over the same period.
An analysis of the unaudited and provisional results shows that Profit after Tax dipped by 38.4percent from the N23.9billion recorded over the same period in the preceding year, while results from Operating Activities dropped by 34.4percent from the N42.3 billion recorded in the same period last year. Profit before Tax also dipped by 34.7 percent from N34.4billion recorded in 2017 to N22.4billion in the period under review.
Commenting on the results, the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr. Uaboi Agbebaku said “the new excise duty regime which came into effect in June and the consequent effect of it, adversely impacted the Third Quarter results”.
Agbebaku added that the Company also undertook a rightsizing exercise which resulted in a substantial one off cost during the quarter.
According to him, the company is feeling the impact of a new excise duty rate for alcohol that came into effect in June as the brewing company reported a net profit decline of 38% to ₦14.8bn ($40.7 million) in the 9-months to the end of September.
The Company said it paid 31% more in excise duty in the third quarter and 9% more in the 9-months to the end of September than it paid last year. Net revenue fell by 6.52% in the nine months to ₦238bn ($656 million) from ₦252bn ($694 million) and 11.23% in the third quarter alone.
The company also blamed increased competition and a one-off downsizing it took in the period, resulting in a net loss of ₦3.6bn in the third quarter, from ₦250m in 2017.
Exchange Rate: ₦363 = $1
