Revaluation gain helps Tolaram-backed Guinness Nigeria return to profitability

Guinness Nigeria, the liquor producer in which Singapore-based conglomerate Tolaram acquired Diageo’s 58 per cent holding last year, netted N26.3 billion in profit for the fifteen months to September, enabled by a bumper fortune from revaluing its foreign currency balances.

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The company, whose last financial year ended in June, chose to extend that reporting period by one quarter to last month as part of steps to end that tradition by switching its accounting year-end from June to December.

Requisite approvals are in place, and the current quarter is now expected to expand that 15-month span by three months more to make the whole period end in December. At that point, it will issue an audited report covering the eighteen months, according to a statement issued following the release of its latest earnings report on Thursday.

Guinness’ post-tax profit for the period under review is a clear relief from the N54.8 billion loss for the twelve months to June 2024, when a substantial currency revaluation loss left the bottom line awash in red ink.

However, in the 15 months to September, a weaker naira meant gain on remeasurement of foreign currency balances leapt more than fourfold to N89.1 billion, setting up the N26.3 billion profit.

“Our ambition is clear – to be one of the best-performing, most trusted, and most respected consumer products companies in Nigeria. We are transforming into a truly performance organisation powered by innovation, agility and an entrepreneurial spirit,” Managing Director Girish Sharma said in the statement.

“As we build for more into the future, our priority is to sustain this momentum, deepen our operational efficiency and unlock new avenues for growth,” added Mr Shirma, who was drafted to Guinness Nigeria’s board last October to be CEO, following Tolaram’s takeover.

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Revenue, still almost entirely dominated by domestic sales despite exportation efforts, climbed to N594.7 billion from the N299.5 billion recorded in the twelve months ending June 2024.

Operational efficiency remains a major concern, with cost-to-income ratio as high as 1.9, the main pressure point being a more-than-double increase in distribution expenses to N45 billion.

Pre-tax profit stood at N43.8 billion, a shift from the N73.7 billion loss reported for the 2024 financial year.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Breweries records ₦1.04 trillion revenue in nine months

Pressing short-term obligations, including huge trade and other payables as well as overdue loan repayments, have opened a financing gap of N101.1 billion that will have to be bridged to keep current liabilities to a bare minimum.

Diageo, the British multinational owner of Guinness’ global operations, said last June after divesting its stake that it is sticking to the brand’s ownership in Nigeria while licensing it to Tolaram on a long-term basis.

Before the Guinness acquisition, Tolaram already had its footprints across sectors in the country, where its food-processing subsidiary Dufil Prima manufactures products that have attained household prominence, including Indomie Instant Noodles, Power Oil and Minimie Chin Chin.

The corporation is the lead developer and major equity investor in Nigeria’s deepest sea port, the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a $1.5 billion multi-purpose facility situated on the outskirts of Lagos, inaugurated two years ago.