Unilever Nigeria half year 2015 net earnings profit fell 94 per cent to N85.573 million from N1.464 billion recorded a year earlier.
In a filing from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) the company’s pre-tax profit also dropped by 95 per cent from 2.077 billion during the previous year to N94.070 million in the period under review.
However, the company’s revenue declined by 2 per cent from N29.280 billion in 2014 to N28.721 billion during the half year 2015.
Unilever Nigeria’s first-quarter 2015 net earnings profit fell 21 per cent to N590.448 million from N750.629 million recorded a year earlier. However, the company’s revenue grew by 8 per cent from N13.834 billion in 2013 to N14.910 billion during the year under review.
The company had said last month that it plans to raise its stake in its Nigerian unit to up to 75 per cent in a $216 million offer to minority shareholders but would not de-list its subsidiary.
According to reports, the household products maker, which already owns 50.1 per cent of the Nigerian subsidiary, has had operations in Africa’s biggest economy for close to a century and sees Nigeria as a long-term investment.
Under the terms of the offer, parent firm Unilever plans to acquire 942 million ordinary shares at N45.50 each, which would reduce the Nigerian unit’s free float and trading volumes.
The parent firm valued the Nigeria subsidiary at around N172.14 billion ($865 million) and said it would fund the tender offer from its available cash reserves.
The full year 2014 financials had also showed a negative route as Unilever reported a revenue of N55.7 billion, representing a 7 per cent drop from the N60 billion reported in 2013. Pre-tax profits dropped 58 per cent to N2.8 billion from N6.79 billion posted in 2013.
The drop in top-line revenue as well as increase in operating expenses for the period affected the drop in profits. Profit after tax also dropped 79 per cent to N2.4billion for the year compared to N4.7billion reported a year earlier. Earnings per share also dropped 49 per cent to 64 kobo from N1.25 posted in 2013.
