The manufacturing sector in Nigeria was the worst hit sector of the impact of political and economic uncertainties that plagued the country at the beginning of the year 2023.
The woes began with Naira scarcity; followed by the weakening of the naira against the dollar in the FOREX market, continuous rising inflation, and high interest rates among others.
These affected the half-year earnings performance of manufacturing firms, particularly the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sub-sector. Companies like Nestle, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Sugar, and Cadbury actually recorded losses for the first half of 2023.
Despite challenges, BusinessDay’s findings showed Nascon Allied Industries Plc and BUA Foods Plc, two of Nigeria’s leading food and beverage companies outperformed their peers in terms of profit after tax (PAT) growth in the first half of 2023.
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Data gleaned from companies’ financial statements showed Nascon recorded 279.28 percent growth in profit after tax while BUA Foods saw 142.18 percent growth, Nestle Nigeria recorded 80.11 percent growth and Unilever Nigeria recorded 44.81 percent growth.
Nascon recorded a profit after tax of N5.82 billion in H1 2023, a 279.28 percent growth from N1.54 billion in the same period of 2022.
BUA Foods’ profit after tax amounted to N95.2 billion in H1 2023, a 142.2 percent increase from N39.31 billion in a similar period in 2022.
Nestle Nigeria’s profit after tax increased to N49.98 billion in H1 2023, an 80.11 percent increase from N27.75 billion in a similar period in 2022.
Unilever Nigeria recorded a profit after tax of N2.76 billion in H1 2023, from N1.91 billion in the same period of 2022.
Champion Brewery’s profit stood at N29.07 million in H1 2023 from N1.08 billion in the same period of 2o22.
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Guinness recorded a loss of N18.17 billion in H1 2023 from a profit of N15.65 billion in the same period of 2022.
Dangote Sugar recorded a loss of N27.99 billion in H1 2023 from a profit of N20.24 billion in the similar period of 2022.
“There were challenges faced in sourcing for an adequate quantity of foreign currencies from the official markets resulting in a slowdown of business operations when foreign currencies required to purchase production materials are not available,” Dangote Sugar said in a note.
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Nigerian Breweries recorded a loss of N47.6 billion in H1 2023 from a profit of N18.74 billion in the same period of 2022.
Cadbury Nigeria recorded a loss of N14.54 billion in H1 2023 from a profit of N2.34 billion in the same period of 2022.
International Breweries recorded a loss of N23.59 billion in H1 2023 from a profit of N336.2 million in the same period of 2022.
