Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, Unilever Nigeria Plc, has reported a 236 percent surge in its profit after tax for the first half of 2017.
The firm’s unaudited result for the half year ended June 30, 2017 submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, showed that the profit after tax of the company stood at N3.7 billion compared to N1.1 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2016.
Profit before tax likewise jumped by N3.556bn or 239 percent to N5.044 billion, as against the N1.487 billion reported in the corresponding period of last year. Consequently, Unilever’s earnings per share grew to 97 kobo; as against 29 kobo in the first half of 2016.
The result showed that revenue from sales stood at N45.1 billion, a 40 per cent increase from N32.3 billion in H1 2016.
An analysis of the income statement revealed that the major increase in revenue came from the company’s food product segment raked in N20.7 billion accounting for 46 per cent of the total revenue.
This was followed by personal care with N12 billion, while the home care segment yielded N12.3 billion, both accounting for 27 percent each of the total revenue.
Cost of sales rose by 45.53 per cent from N21.924 billion in the corresponding period of 2016, to N31.197 billion, leaving gross profit at N13.907 billion, compared to N10.353 billion in previous year.
Selling and distribution expenses rose to N1.942 billion from N1.502 billion, while marketing and administrative expenses fell to N5.571 billion as against N6.689 billion in 2016, bringing gross profit for the period to N6.394 billion, which was significantly higher than the N2.161 billion recorded earlier.
Finance income was N374.977 million, slightly better than the N220.856 million recorded in 2016; while finance costs more than doubled to N1.725 billion from N894.891 million.
Toshiba Shares Soar by almost a fifth over Fresh Stake
Giant electronic manufacturer, Toshiba Corp shares jumped by nearly a fifth on Tuesday , July 18, after a U.S. hedge fund said it had added a stake and the Japanese conglomerate avoided an immediate court injunction on a planned $18 billion sale of its chip business.
Toshiba is scrambling to complete the sale of its chip unit to help cover billions in losses at its now-bankrupt Westinghouse nuclear unit.
But the auction has stalled on disagreements among members of the groups bidding for the world’s No. 2 NAND producer as well as a legal battle with Western Digital Corp, its memory chip joint venture partner.
U.S. hedge fund Greenlight Capital, run by David Einhorn, said on Friday the stock may be worth as much as 400 yen once the company resolves its dispute with Western Digital and clears uncertainties around Westinghouse.
Toshiba shares closed up 19 percent on Tuesday at 275.8 yen, giving the crisis-wracked firm a market value of around $10.4 billion. The Tokyo market was closed on Monday for a national holiday.
The stock is still down around 30 percent compared with levels since late December when it flagged potential billions in losses.
Western Digital has sought a U.S. court injunction to block the sale, arguing that any sale requires its consent.
The U.S. court judge on Friday postponed a decision on the injunction and proposed requiring Toshiba to give Western Digital two weeks notice before closing the sale.
The ruling allows Toshiba to proceed with negotiations for now, although it is not expected to help resolve the standoff with Western Digital or speed up the sale process.
Sources have said the auction is also being complicated by a demand by SK Hynix Inc, a member of a Japanese government-backed group chosen by Toshiba as a preferred bidder, that it be given an equity stake in the unit.
Toshiba said last week that it was also considering offers from Western Digital and Foxconn due to the lack of progress in discussions with the preferred bidder, Reuters reports.
