At the end of its first-quarter for the period ended 31 March, consumer goods giant, Unilever printed a 30.7percent year-on-year drop in top line to N13.3bn for Q1 2020 from N19.2bn in Q1 2019.
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Though panic buying activities supported Q1 2020 revenue, the company’s performance remained pressured due to intense competition from discount alternatives to its various brands.
Its Food and Home & Personal Care (HPC) businesses declined significantly, down 19.9percent year-on-year and 40.7 percent year-on-year respectively to N7.4bn and N5.9bn in Q1 2020 from N9.3bn and N10.0bn.
Furthermore, the company recorded a steep decline in Net Income, down 26.7 percent year-on-year to N1.1bn in Q1 2020 from N1.5bn in Q1 2019.
Analysts at CSL Stockbrokers predicted a sustained revenue decline in 2020e as the company is yet to present a clear strategy to get back market share lost to competition.
“However, we expect lower material cost to provide significant support for profit lines given Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) prices remain weak and risk of further devaluation may not crystalize in 2020. While we expect the company to return to profitability, we struggle to see it return to its historical performance. We forecast EPS of N0.16/s for FY2020e,” analyst said.
