Unilever Announces N1.91bn Profit in H1 2022
Kayode Tokede
With the sharp increase in revenue and non-core operating income, Unilever Nigeria Plc has reported N1.91billion profit in its half year unaudited financial statement for period ended June 30, 2022.
This is an increase of 167per cent from N714.78million reported in H1 2021. The multinational household company also grew profit before tax by 586.17per cent to N2.99 billion in H1 2022 from N434million reported in H1 2021.
A cursory view of the Unilever Nigeria unaudited result shows that the company’s profit was driven by significant sales of the company’s reportable segments, that is, Food and Home and Personal care products.
Both segments delivered a revenue of N43.81 billion in H1 2022 compared to N32.42billion in the same period of 2021.
Revenue growth from the Food Products segment was at 39.5per cent year-on-year YoY), generating a total of N19.87 billion in H1 2022 from N14.24billion in H1 2021, while revenue from Home and personal care products raked in N23.9 billion, representing growth of 31.66 per cent YoY.
Also, about N66.66million non-core operating income drive profit in the period under review.
The company disclosed that it made N66.65million income from the transitional service agreement.
In a notice, the company explained that, “Subsequent to the disposal of the Tea business in October 2021, Unilever entered into a Transitional Service Agreement (“the Agreement”) with the new owner, Unilever Tea MSO Nigeria Limited. The Agreement will be in place for a period of 15 months, during which time Unilever would provide production and sales support to Unilever Tea MSO Nigeria Limited in exchange for a fee.”
The period in review witnessed a persistent increase in prices of goods and services, thereby resulting in inflationary pressures that affected both consumers and producers.
Despite the double-digit food inflation, the H1 2022 profit was supported by cost management practices as production costs increased by22.3 per cent to N29.61billion from N24.2billion reported in corresponding period.
The company’s total operating expenses increased by roughly 36.4 per cent during the period to N11.17billion from N8.19billion reported in prior period.
A further look at the financial results showed that the company’s total assets are now at N119.9 billion, gaining about 10 per cent from N108.3billion reported in 2021 full year.
Unilever Nigeria had declared a dividend of N0.50 kobo for 2021 and the company last traded on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) at N15.5 per share as of July 15, 2022.
