Guinness Nigeria Records 6% Growth in Revenue

One of Nigeria’s biggest brewers, Guinness Nigeria Plc, on Friday, October 28, announced a revenue leap of 6% for the first quarter of its financial year ended 30 September 2016.

The financial statements released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE,  over the weekend also showed that the company had a Loss After Tax position of N2.2billion in the same period under review.

Managing Director/CEO, Mr.Peter Ndegwa,  aid Guinness Nigeria said the revenue growth was in spite of lingering glitches in the operating environment.

“The environment remains tough but we have seen contributions from our mainstream and international premium spirits brands as well as continuing growth of our value brands,” he said.

“These were the key drivers of the 6% revenue growth recorded for the quarter. Our cost of sales was impacted by the high inflationary environment and continuing currency devaluation leading to a reduction in operating profit. The higher finance cost in the quarter is due to the impact of unrealized foreign exchange losses as a result of the currency devaluation.”

“Going forward, innovation will continue to be a big part of our strategy us as we look to deepen our participation in the mainstream and value segments. We will also continue to invest behind our brands with a key focus on building the right portfolio for future growth and re-shaping our organization to take advantage of what is likely to continue to be a challenging market in the short to medium term.”

Citing long term commitment to the Nigerian market as a key driver, Guinness Nigeria recently announced a further GBP12M of investments into Nigeria as it plans to commission a new spirits manufacturing line in its Benin plant in the coming weeks.