Cadbury Nigeria Plc, a Mondelēz International subsidiary has recorded a 180 percent surge in revenue from cocoa products in other markets apart from Nigeria.
The chocolate confectionery reported N2.83 billion in cocoa revenue during the first nine months of 2023, up from N1 billion in the same period in 2022.
This revenue encompasses the manufacturing and sale of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and cocoa cake.
In the Nigerian market, revenue from cocoa products for the nine months stood at N370.8 million, an increase from the N179.28 million recorded in the corresponding period 2022.
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BusinessDay had earlier reported that Nigeria is currently ranked fourth in cocoa production globally, trailing behind Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Indonesia, with production figures of approximately 2.2 million MTS, 800,000 MTS, and 739,483 MTS, respectively. Nigeria’s cocoa production stands at 340,000 MTS, with a targeted increase to 500,000 MTS by the year 2024.
The overall revenue for the company amounted to N59.2 billion from the N30 billion recorded in the same period in 2022. Refreshment beverages account for 69.3 percent of the total revenue.
The biscuit arm launched just a year ago, generated revenue of N1.04 million.
Despite these positive aspects, the chocolate maker recorded a loss of N10.24 billion in profit during the first nine months of 2023, compared to the profit of N12.8 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.
This decline, amounting to a 463.7 percent decrease, is attributed to increased operating costs and the impact of the naira devaluation
Cadbury’s operating expenses surged by 32.3 percent, reaching N6.34 billion in the period under review, compared to N4.80 billion in the corresponding period of 2022.
The increase was notably influenced by the selling and distribution expenses, contributing N5.07 billion, up from N3.93 billion in 2022, while administration expenses settled at N1.29 billion, a rise from N869 million in 2022.
Read also: Cadbury’s profit margin up 20% despite rising costs
The company’s net finance income experienced a significant decline, turning into a cost of N19.89 billion from a gain of N712 million in 2022, primarily due to a foreign exchange difference loss of N21 billion.
Net cash used in/generated from operating activities for the nine months showed a negative value of N8.72 billion, indicating that the company is not generating sufficient cash from its core business activities to cover its operating expenses.
The net cash used in investing activities also recorded a negative value of N889.6 million, compared to a negative N978.3 million in the same period of 2022, indicating that that the company has spent more cash on its investing activities than it has received from them
Net cash generated from financing activities grew to N24.73 billion in the nine months of 2023, a notable increase from N5.19 billion recorded in the same period of 2022.
As of September 30, cash and cash equivalents amounted to N41.54 billion, up from N23.84 billion recorded in the same period of 2022.
