Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria Breweries Plc has reported a sharp drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2020.
According to the board the company made a revenue of N83.2 billion in the first quarter ended March 31.
The revenue it said represented a decrease of 0.09 per cent when compared with N83.3 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2019. The company during the period under review posted a profit after tax of N5.5 billion against N8 billion declared in March 2019, representing a decrease of 31 per cent.
Uaboi Agbebaku, the Company Secretary/Legal Director, said in a statement that the cost of sales increased by 0.23 per cent to N48.3 billion from N48.2 billion in 2019. Mr Agbebaku said marketing, distribution and administrative expenses also grew by 13.9 per cent to N24 billion, from N21 billion recorded in the preceding period of 2019. He noted that the COVID-19 crisis continued to impact businesses, with the effect expected to be more pronounced in future.
Mr Agbebaku said that it was not possible to determine the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis due to lack of visibility on its end date. He, however, noted that the company had a strong balance sheet and its board and management remained focused on mitigating the impact of the pandemic on its operations