Unilever Nigeria stays profitable with 12.5% y/y revenue rise to N19.6bn in Q3

UNILEVER NI GERIA, A LEADING CONSUMER GOODS MAN UFACTURING company, has finally gotten its books in the black for two consecutive quarters running after turning profitable last quarter (Q2, 2021), as it has just reported a 12.5 percent year on year increase in its quarterly revenue to N19.6 billion, with a gross profit of N5.9 billion, up from N3.7 billion reported for same period in 2020.

Revenue growth was driven massively by 33.2 percent year on year growth in the home and personal care segment (N10.07 billion as against the N7.57 billion last year), which was offset by a marginal decline (3.4 percent) in the food products segments to N9.5 billion from N9.83 billion last year.

The third quarter revenue was marginal down 0.8 percent compared to the second quarter at N19.6 billion (Q3) and N19.7 billion (Q2). The unaudited financial statement for the third quarter ended, 30 September 2021, showed a gross profit of N5.9 billion in the third quarter of 2021 versus N3.7 billion in last year; and gross margin improving to 30.6 percent.

It shows a steady upward movement in gross margin improvement as full year 2020 expansion was 22.4 percent, which was a growth from 11 percent in 2019. This performance represents the consistency in gross margin expansion for the past few quarters with the current period being as a result of a 0.6 percent year on year decline in the cost of sales.

A further breakdown of the financial statement shows that the company reported a profit before tax of N386 million in Q3 of 2021 compared to a loss before tax of N2.0 billion in the same period last year, driven by robust top-line growth.

Also, with the help of income tax credit of N81 million, the profit after tax was reported at N368 million against a loss of N1.5 billion in the corresponding period of 2020, while the consumer and personal home care brand reported an earning per share of N0.06 versus a loss per share of N0.29 in Q3 2020.

Covid -19 occurrence is a bittersweet experience for us. Bitter in the sense that we experienced a nose-dive in