Guinness Nigeria Reports N20billion Profit, Months After Tolaram Takeover

Guinness Nigeria Plc has announced a pre-tax profit of N20.1 billion for the second quarter ending December 31, 2024, marking a remarkable turnaround from a pre-tax loss of N8.2 billion in the same period last year.

This marks a significant reversal of fortunes from the pre-tax loss of N8.2 billion reported in the same quarter of the previous year. It is also the first quarterly profit posted by Guinness Nigeria Plc since September 2023, when it reported a profit of N3.8 billion in its first quarter.

The profit boost comes as Tolaram Group completes its takeover of operations from Diageo, the previous parent owner of the Guinness Nigeria brand.

Tolaram acquired the Guinness Nigeria franchise in June 2024, and within six months, the company recorded its first quarterly operating profit.

The second-quarter profit has significantly boosted the company’s half-year pre-tax profits to approximately N4.1 billion, marking its first half-year profit since December 2022. This represents a substantial recovery from the previous half-year loss of N4.4 billion.

For the full fiscal year 2024, Guinness Nigeria reported a pre-tax profit of N4.1 billion, reflecting an impressive recovery from last year’s loss.

The company posted revenue of N133.7 billion for the quarter, bringing the year-to-date figure to N259.6 billion, an 82.06% increase compared to the full year of 2023. Domestic sales made up 98.5% of the total revenue, with export sales contributing the remaining 1.5%.

Despite the strong revenue growth, the cost of sales surged by 107.54% year-on-year, reaching N200.5 billion in 2024. This increase in operational costs led to a decline in operating profit to N11.2 billion, down from N16.3 billion in the previous year.

The surge in topline revenue was the key driver behind the company’s profitability, which offset the rising costs. Operating profit surged to N18.1 billion, helping mitigate the pressure from the higher cost of sales and operational expenses.

Additionally, net finance charges, which had previously contributed to losses, swung to a net gain this quarter.

Finance expenses more than doubled to N59.5 billion, but were offset by a surge in finance income, totalling N63.9 billion.

This was primarily driven by gains from the remeasurement of foreign currency balances, which accounted for 99.51% of the finance income.