Nigerian Breweries Declares Final Dividend of N5.5 Billion

Goddy Egene

Nigerian Breweries Plc has declared a final dividend of N5.518 billion for the year ended December 31, 2020.
The amount translated to 69 kobo per share. Shareholders of one of the leading brewing firms would be receiving a total of N7.527 billion dividend (94 kobo per share), having received an interim dividend of N1.999 billion( 25 kobo per share) last year. However, the final dividend is lower than the N1.51 received the previous year.

Besides, the directors of Nigerian Breweries Plc are also recommending a right of election for to receive new ordinary shares in the company instead of the final dividend in cash. According to the company, the reference share price for the purpose of determining the number of shares due to qualifying shareholders who elect for the share option will be a 10-day trading average of the company’s share price on the floor of The Nigerian Stock Exchange, starting on the 11th of March, 2021.

The reduced dividend is due to the decline in bottom-line of the company as shown in the audited 2020 financial results just released. Details of the results showed that Nigerian Breweries Plc recorded a net revenue of N337.046 billion in 2020, up from N323.007 billion in 2019. Cost of sale rose from N191.757 billion to N218.355 billion, while gross profit printed at N118.690 billion compared to N131.251 billion in 2019.

The company was able to bring down marketing and distribution expenses to N70.702 billion in 2020, from N77.695 billion in 2019. Also, administrative expenses reduced marginally from N19.355 billion to N19.212 billion while net financing cost rose 52 per cent to N18.028 billion from N11.927 billion.

Consequently, profit before tax (PBT) fell by 50.3 per cent from N23.327 billion to N11.577 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) fell from N16.105 billion to N7.368 billion.

The shareholders of the company had last year commended the board and management of the company for being resilient in the face of the challenging operating environment and appreciated the regular dividend payment.

On his part, the Chairman of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Chief Kola Jamodu, had thanked the shareholders for their commendation and assured them that the company remained focused on delivering long term sustainable value in line with its philosophy of ‘Winning with Nigeria.’