Nigerian Breweries Recommends N19.40bn Dividend Pay-out

Nigerian Breweries Plc has recommended total dividend of N19.401 billion for the 2018 financial year.

This amounted to dividend of N2.43 per ordinary share of 50 kobo each.

The company attributed the 100 per cent dividend payout as a demonstration of its strong balance sheet and robust cash flow.

Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Jordi Borrut Bel, disclosed this at its Pre-AGM press briefing in Lagos recently.

Bel said the company had earlier paid an interim dividend of N4.8 billion in October 2018, which amounted to 60 kobo per share. The final dividend would therefore be N14.6 billion, which comes to N1.83 per share.

An analysis of the company’s results showed that it recorded a net revenue of N324.38 billion for the 2018 financial year as against N344.53 billion recorded in 2017.

Bel explained that the marketing and distribution expenses for the 2018 financial year increased by 4.8 per cent relative to the cost incurred in 2017, and administrative expenses also experienced a 4.4 per cent declined from N21.75 billion to N20.78 billion, which was largely informed by elimination of bad costs.

He also disclosed that though the excise duty tariff imposed by federal government at 43 per cent increase took serious toll on the business, it was difficult for the company to pass the cost to consumers in view of weak purchasing power.

A further analysis of the company’s audited results showed that profit after tax increased sharply from N14.79 billion, to 19.43billion between the third quarter and the fourth quarter of the 2018 financial year respectively.

Borrut Bel stated that despite the double digit inflation and other operating challenges which affected the company’s performance, the impact was reduced by cost-saving measures deployed through cost leadership initiatives.