After two bruising years in which foreign exchange volatility and sky-high finance costs forced some of Nigeria’s most reliable dividend payers to slam the brakes on shareholder rewards, the tide may finally be turning.
From breweries to telecoms to consumer goods, a wave of earnings rebounds in 2025 is reviving talk of dividend cheques landing in investors’ accounts again.
For income-focused investors, the stakes are high not only for the cash flow, but for the boost that regular payouts bring to stock valuations.
This year, a mix of FX stability, operational recovery, and balance sheet repair is creating fertile ground for a payout revival.
Breweries
Nigerian Breweries last paid a dividend in 2022, capping a steady run between 2020 and 2022.
That streak broke in 2023, when severe FX losses and high finance costs dragged the brewer into a N142 billion loss, deepening to N183 billion in 2024 and pushing retained losses to N169.78 billion.
The turnaround began in 2025. By mid-year, the company had delivered N88.42 billion in profit after tax five times its 2022 profit while retained losses almost halved to N82.46 billion.
Shareholders’ funds stood strong at N549 billion. With over N60 billion earned in Q2 alone, analysts say a full-year profit of N170–N180 billion is realistic, potentially wiping out retained losses in early 2026 and opening the door for dividends for the 2025 financial year.
The main caution: working capital management, which trimmed operating cash flow from N194 billion to N45 billion in H1 2025.
Champion Breweries broke a six-year dry spell by paying a dividend of six kobo per share for the 2024 financial year, funded from a profit of N817 million.
The momentum has continued into 2025, with the brewer posting N2.2 billion in profit after tax in H1 already surpassing any full-year profit since 2017. With retained earnings at N5.6 billion and shareholders’ funds at N13.81 billion, analysts say it is plausible that the company will sustain, if not increase, its resurgent dividend payments.
Telecoms
MTN Nigeria, after listing in 2019, paid steady dividends until 2023, when losses of N178 billion, deepening to N550 billion in 2024, pushed equity deep into negative territory. Retained losses ballooned to N607.5 billion by the end of 2024.
A sharp turnaround in Q4 2024 carried into 2025. By mid-year, MTN posted n415 billion in profit after tax, slashing retained losses to N193 billion and narrowing negative equity from N458 billion to just N42.5 billion.
FX losses, once in the hundreds of billions, fell to just N5 billion, while tariff hikes and data revenue growth lifted operational efficiency, with an H1 EBITDA margin of 50.5% versus a 44.5% forecast. If H2 mirrors H1, MTN could close the year with N800–N850 billion profit, clearing retained losses and restoring positive equity—paving the way for a 2025 dividend.
CardinalStone analysts, in an August 5, 2025 report, described the telco’s outlook as “positive” and signaled a potential payout resumption.
FMCG
Nestlé Nigeria held its dividend steady for four years until 2022. But FX and interest-driven losses took hold in 2023, when it reported a N79 billion loss after tax, swelling to N165 billion in 2024. That pushed equity to -N92.3 billion and retained losses to N243 billion by year-end.
The first half of 2025 saw a marked recovery. Retained losses dropped to N193 billion, equity improved to -N42 billion, and FX losses of N262 billion in 2024 flipped to a N3 billion gain.
If this trend continues, Nestlé could edge back into positive equity by year-end and re-enter dividend territory for the first time in three years.
From the confectionery Cadbury Nigeria last paid a N0.40 dividend per share in 2022, but FX pressures and rising finance costs pushed it into losses for 2023 and 2024, closing 2024 with N37 billion in retained losses and shareholders’ funds of just N4.4 billion.
The company swung back into the black in H1 2025, earning N10 billion after tax, trimming retained losses to N27 billion and boosting equity to n14.6 billion.
However, inventories swelled to N20 billion, locking up cash and squeezing operating cash flow despite profitability.
Should the second half mirror the first, Cadbury could finish 2025 with around N20 billion profit, leaving just N7 billion in retained losses.
That would put it within touching distance of resuming dividends—though most observers see a cautious 2026 payout as more likely.
Across sectors, the story is the same: FX stability, easing interest costs, and a return to profitability are breathing life back into balance sheets.
If momentum holds, 2025 could mark the end of a long dividend drought for some of Nigeria’s most recognisable listed companies.
The Chief Dealer at El-Elyon Alliance and Securities Limited, Mr. Benjamin Asiotu, put it succinctly: “If the earnings run-rate we’ve seen in the first half holds through December, 2025 won’t just be the year profits returned—it will be the year dividends made a comeback.”
