For the second year in a row, Unilever Nigeria, a player in the fast-moving consumer goods space, recorded a loss in the 2020 financial year.
The firm recorded a loss of N1.59 billion in 2020, according to data obtained from its unaudited financial statement on the website of the Nigerian stock exchange.
While the loss in the period was an improvement from the N4.22 billion loss recorded in 2019, it is a disappointing performance when compared to a profit of N10.6 billion in 2018, as the firm continues to grapple with ballooning cost amid weaker revenue.
Unilever’s share price closed 2.22 percent lower, Monday.
An impairment loss on trade receivables of N1 billion was made in the period 2020, representing a 38 percent increase from N721 million in 2019.
The performance improvement is traceable to a significant decline in borrowing cost, sales growth and reduced cost of sales.
Unilever managed to deleverage in 2020 as borrowing cost plunged 72 percent to N223.2 million from N824.1 million in the previous year.
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The company grew sales to N61.5 billion, up by 1.3 percent from 60.7 billion in 2019.
Cost of sales dropped 11.6 percent to N47.7 billion in 2020 compared to N54 billion in 2019. Gross profit grew 105 percent, to N13.7 billion in 2020 compared to N6.67 billion a year before.
The consumer goods maker spent less on selling and distribution as the expense dropped by 10 percent to N2.81 billion compared to N3.15 billion in 2019.
Also, marketing and promotion as the expense declined 2.29 percent from the previous year.
Unilever’s tax dropped to N363 million, down from N4.41 billion in the year before. Other income rose 2.3 percent to N66.9 billion in 2020 compared to N65.3 billion recorded in the same period of 2019.
Earnings per share (EPS) plunged 67.5 percent to N0.28 per share from N0.74 per share in 2019.
However, Unilever recorded a profit of N468.4 million in the last three months of 2020, compared to a loss of N4.76 billion in the same period of 2019. During this period, the company grew sales by 84 percent to N16.8 billion, up from N9.1 billion in the last three months of 2019.
Sales cost rose to N12.9 billion compared to N12 billion in the period under review.
The company recorded no finance cost during this period as against the last three months of 2019 when it recorded a borrowing cost of N381 million.
However, earnings per share dropped 84 percent to N0.08 from N0.52 in the last three months of 2019.
