The earnings of Meyer Plc, one of Nigeria’s major paint manufacturers, dropped by 40 percent last year, BusinessDay analysis of its latest financial statement shows.
The firm’s after-tax profit fell to N235 million from N393 million in 2022. Its operating expenses increased by 24 percent to N707 million from N568 million.
Within the same period, its finance cost also experienced a significant growth of 114 percent to N4.1 million from N1.9 million.
Read also: Less cash for Meyer Plc as loss hits N17m
Administrative expenses constituted a significant portion of operating expenses, reaching N410 million, primarily driven by management fee expenses and performance costs, which claimed 38.7 percent of the total expenses.
Employee costs and carriage inward fees drove the company’s selling and distribution expenses within the period to increase by 30 percent to N297 million from N227 million.
On a positive note, revenue witnessed a 64 percent increase to N2.26 billion in 2023 from N1.37 billion in 2022. The majority of the revenue, totalling N2.26 billion, was generated from the sale of paints amounting to N2.25 billion and services rendered by applying N6 million.
Finance income reached N159 million, up from N82 million. The company’s operating income declined by 160 percent to N13 million from N51 million.
Read also: Meyer Plc records second 9-month profit in 5 years
Meyer’s basic and diluted earnings per share declined to 47 kobo from 79 kobo. Total equity and liabilities increased to N1.68 billion from N1.44 billion.
Net cash from operating activities demonstrated a modest increase to N103 million in 2023 from a loss of N153 million in 2022, primarily driven by the company’s working capital inflows.
In the reviewed period, net cash from investing activities showed a gain of N89 million, compared to N73 million. On the other hand, net cash from financing activities incurred a loss of N166,000, compared to N11.4 million.
The closing balance of cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to N1.52 billion, representing an increase from N1.32 billion
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