Unilever Nigeria reports 72.95% decline in pre-tax profit as economy bites

Unilever Nigeria Plc has released its unaudited financial results for the period ended June 30th, 2023 the results showing pre-tax profits dipped by 72.95 per cent to N169.9 million from N628.28 million achieved in the previous year.

The  food processing company reported an operating loss of N3.2 billion in the quarter under review as costs escalated beyond revenues.

The result is on the back of a 22.79 per cent increase in the inflation rate in June 2023 as businesses and their consumers have had to deal with the rising cost of goods and services.

Revenue for the quarter was N29.60 billion as against the N23.25 billion recorded in the same period last year representing an increase of 27.31 per cent.

The revenue was driven by a rise in the company’s main business segments (food products and home & personal care).

Food Products delivered a revenue of N14.72 billion in the quarter compared to N10.43 billion same period last year. While revenue from Home & Personal Care was N14.88 billion compared to N12.81 billion same period last year.

Unilever recorded losses of N3.28 billion due to rising costs of sales as the company restructured costs are raw and packaging materials written off due to the stoppage of production in the home care category and associated redundancy costs.

Revenue for the quarter was N29.60 billion compared to N23.25 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

Cost of sales increased to N27.11 billion from N16.22 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Gross profit recorded for the period declined to N2.49 billion from N7.03 billion reported last year.

Cash flow for the half year ended 30th June 2023 was N82.73 billion, an increase of 30.53 per cent from N63.38 billion recorded in the same period last year.