Unilever Plc posts 31% growth in Profit-before-tax in first nine months of 2024 

Unilever Nigeria Plc has reported a N13.96 billion Profit-before-tax in the first nine months of 2024- an increase of 30.58% compared to N10.69 billion recorded in the first nine months of 2023.

This is according to the company’s third quarter financial result for the period ending September 30, 2024, posted on the NGX.

According to the financial result, Unilever’s revenue for the nine months jumped from N71.20 billion in the same period of 2023 to N103.84 billion.

However, in the third quarter of 2024, the company reversed its losses of the third quarter of 2022 posting a profit after tax of N6.57 billion compared to the loss of N1.09 billion.

Key Highlights of the report  

• Revenue- N103.84 billion, +45% increase YoY

• Cost of sales- N60.95 billion, +26% increase YoY

• Gross Profit- N42.89 billion, +88% increase YoY

• Operating Profit- N10.13 billion, +27% increase YoY

• Finance cost- N2.94 billion, 14% increase YoY

• Net finance income- N3.82 billion, +40% increase YoY

• Profit Before Tax- N13.96 billion, +31% increase YoY

• Taxation- N2.95 billion, -9% decline YoY

• Profit for the period- N11.00 billion, +563% increase YoY

• Earnings Per Share (EPS)- N1.92k, +48% increase YoY

Commentary- in the period under review, the bulk of the company’s revenue came from food product segment which grew revenues from N43.18 billion between January and September 2023 to N61.40 billion in the same period of 2024.

Furthermore, the company’s personal care segment generated N34.67 billion- an increase of 48% from N23.41 billion in the corresponding period of 2023. The Beauty product segment of the company’s business grew from N4.61 billion to N7.77 billion in the period under review.

The food product segment of the company’s business contributed a whopping 59% of the company’s revenue in the period under review. The company’s food and beverage products include Gino tomato paste, pasta, malt, beer etc.

Also, the personal care business, which features products such as diapers, cosmetics, wipes, body reliefs, body supplements etc generated 33% of the company’s revenue in the period under review while the beauty product segment represented just 7.4% of revenues.

A preponderance of the company’s revenue was generated locally as less than 3% at N3.23 billion was generated through exports to other countries in the period under review.

The publishing of the company’s result had no immediate effect on its share price as it remained stable at N19 per share. In the last one year, the company’s share price has peaked at N21.7k per share on the NGX.