The financial results of Unilever Nigeria Plc for the first quarter (Q1) ending 31st March 2016 show an impressive growth for the multinational.
The company posted a Turnover and Profit after Tax of N16.78 billion and N1.04 billion respectively with improvements across board.
A statement released by the company said consistency in performance over the last two quarters demonstrates strong resilience and resolution to win despite the various economic challenges in the operating environment.
The results also show a 12.5 per cent growth in Turnover from N14.9 billion in Q1 2015 to N16.78 billion in Q1 2016.
Cost of sales increased by 9.1 per cent to N10.7 billion for the period ended March 2016 from N9.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2015.
Net finance cost reduced by 35 per cent to N488 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to N757 million reported for the corresponding period in 2015.
Q1 2016 results show that net finance cost as a function of operating profit improved significantly to 26 per cent (Q1 2015: 47 per cent), reflecting sustained improvements in cash management.
Profit after tax for the full year increased significantly by 76 per cent from N590 million in Q1 2015 to N1.04 billion in Q1 2016.
From the statement, Unilever Nigeria assured stakeholders of continued focus on key business drivers to ensure sustained growth in the company’s operations to improve returns on investments.
“Although the challenges in the operating environment are yet to ease, we have continued to see momentum behind recent initiatives taken by Management. We will continue to focus on driving cost efficiencies, growing market share across key categories and reinvesting behind our brands”.
It said management is equally addressing the issue of finance costs through a number of initiatives and efforts are on-going to sustain the improvements coming through in Q1.
