Two leading flour millers operating in the country raked in N590.730 billion in revenue during the half year ended June 30, 2022, which represents a 43.37 per cent growth over N412,020 billion reported in 2021.
The flour millers include Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and Honeywell Flour Mills Plc.
This was on the back of a high inflation environment and currency devaluation. The inflation rate increased to 18.60 per cent as at end of June 2022, highest in 11 months due to increased food costs, supply chain disruptions, the depreciation of the naira, insecurity, and deteriorating infrastructure.
Profit after tax of these companies stood at N10.881 billion from N10.137 billion in 2021 representing a marginal 7.34 per cent increase. This was due to rising cost of sales which swallowed much of the earnings following rising inflation and high exchange rate.
Cost of sales for the firms stood at N529.666 billion for the half year 2022 as against N352.992 billion in 2021, accounting for a growth of 50.05 per cent.
Despite efforts by the government to create an enabling environment for investment in the nation’s economy, the exchange rate volatility and its attendant effects have impacted businesses negatively.
The rise in exchange rate forced manufacturers to borrow at a high rate, thereby increasing the cost of production, which in turn is made worse by infrastructure deficiency. The resultant costs were, inevitably, transferred to consumers.
Aside from the increased cost of raw materials, some manufacturers, especially multinational consumer goods companies that have taken up foreign currency liabilities are also groaning under the pressure of the increased cost of the dollar.
Some of these companies plan their cash flows well in advance and they can’t easily adjust to currency fluctuations. The exchange rate volatility and difficulty in accessing dollars have resulted in erstwhile profitable companies becoming less profitable.
A cursory look at the financials showed that Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) led in revenue generation, followed by Honeywell Nigeria Plc.
FMN reported a revenue of N522.821 billion from N355.109 billion in 2021 representing a growth of 47 per cent.
Following high cost of sales, Profit after tax grew marginally by 6 per cent to N10.528 billion for the half year 2022 as against N9.933 billion in 2021. Cost of sales grew by 53.66 per cent to N468.406 billion from N304.819 billion.
Honeywell Flour Mills recorded a revenue of N67.909 billion in H1 2022, representing an increase of 19.32 per cent over N56.911 billion reported in H1 2021.
Profit after tax was N353 million in 2022 as against N204 million in 2021, accounting for an increase of 73 per cent, while cost of sales stood at N61.260 billion in half year of 2022 from N48.173 billion in 2021, representing a growth of 27 per cent.