Cadbury Nigeria Plc yesterday released its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017 with a profit after tax of N350 million. The company in its result for the period under review on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that profit after tax bounced back to N299 million from a loss after tax of N296 million made in 2016. Also, the company’s revenue increased by 10 per cent from N29.9 billion in 2016 to N33 billion in 2017. The company made a profit before tax of N350 million in 2017, as against a loss before tax of N562 million in 2017, while its earnings per share went up to 16 kobo. Cadbury recorded a gross profit of N7.435 billion from N6.860 billion, representing a growth of eight percent, while result from operating activities increased by 198 per cent to N711.365 million from a loss of N732.853 million. The company recorded a total assets of N28.423 billion higher than N28.409 billion, while total liabilities stood at N16.680 billion lower than N17.352 in 2016.
The beverage manufacturing company suffered a big profit slash between 2015 and 2016. Capital market analysts noted that management is keeping costs in check but the problem is stagnating sales revenue. They noted that Cadbury’s strong profit in fourth quarter is been strengthen on third quarter performance, saying that the company’s result have been more stable, which suggest a stronger performance in 2018. Analysts at United Capital said “outlook for the Consumer Goods sector in 2018 appears bright on many fronts.” According to them, pressure on revenue is expected to further subside as consumer spending recovers. Increased political spending is positive for consumption and revenue expansion. Foreign Exchange (FX) availability and a stable input cost environment will ease pressure on the Cost-to-Sales margins, boosting operating profit.
SOURCE – Leadership
