BUSINESSDAY
Guinness Nigeria Plc has recorded its first loss in about five years due to increased costs and foreign exchange pressures, according to its latest unaudited report, BusinessDay findings show.
The brewery company recorded a N60.45 billion loss before tax in its nine month 2023/2024 compared to N9.94 billion profit in the same period of the previous year.
Its Operating expenses surged by nine percent, amounting to N48.50 billion from N44.43 percent the previous year.
The drop in its income tax to N1.2 billion in the period under review from N4.1 billion the previous year made its after tax loss drop to N61.65 billion.
Guinness took a $22.5 million loan from its parent company, which is expected to be paid in full this fiscal year.
Guinness $22.5 million loan from its parent company and the float in exchange rate in 2023 resulted in an 89 percent surge in foreign exchange loss of N83 billion in its latest report.
The FX loss was the major contributor to its finance expense which moved from 90.2 billion in the period under review from N9.3 billion in the previous year.
Analysts at CardinalStones noted that they still expect such trends in coming quarters. “We expect cost pressures to remain elevated, driven by the impact of rising inflation on locally sourced raw materials (e.g. sorghum) and foreign exchange volatility on imported products, notably the international premium spirits portfolio,” they said.
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