Guinness Nigeria Plc declared a loss after tax of N2 billion Naira which represents a 14% decline when compared to last year’s figures.
The company however, assured the investors of the company that the situation is under control and better times are ahead as the core brands of Guinness FES and Malta Guinness are steadily growing in addition to their strong participation in the value segment of the market through Satzenbrau and Dubic brands.
The Chairman of the company, Babatunde Savage, also believes that the decision of the company to acquire distribution rights to International Premium Sprit brands are paying off. We have also started to see early signs that our decisions to acquire the distribution rights in Nigeria to the International Premium Spirits brands of Diageo and to invest in local capacity for spirits manufacturing are the right ones for the business.”
The company has given the reasons behind the 14% decline in the profits the company recorded in its 2016 operations. According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Peter Ndegwa, the decrease was due to the synergistic effects of a tough business environment and the heavy devaluation of the Naira.
“Our performance this year was impacted by two major factors, one being the very tough economic challenges around consumer spending, driving consumer preferences towards value brands across the sector. On the other, and more significant factor being the effect of foreign exchange (FX) policy and the devaluation of the Naira. When you take out the impact of the latter, our underlying performance for the year was broadly in line with the prior year in spite of the pressure on the top line.”
Parts of this article originally appeared in Guardian Newspapers.
