Nigerian Breweries see revenues fall by 5.8% in FY2018, Africa Distillers (Zimbabwe) profits rise by 159% in the first six months of FY2019, Pioneer Foods (South Africa) sees a 7.8% increase in turnover during the four months ended 31st January 2019.
Nigerian Breweries, majority owned by Heineken, the recorded revenues of N324.4bn ($890m) in FY2018, down 5.8% from N344.5bn ($950m) in 2017. Cost of sales fell marginally and net profit after tax fell to N19.4bn ($53.5m) from N33.0bn ($91.0m) in FY2017. The company has said that 2018 results were adversely impacted by the increased excise duty rates that came into effect during the year and a challenging operating environment. In particular, consumer discretionary spend remained under pressure.
African Distillers (Afdis), the Zimbabwean wine and spirits manufacturer 60.5% co-owned by Distell and Delta (ABInBev), saw revenues increase from US$16.4m in H2 2017 to US$25.9m in H2018. Net profit after tax rose from US$2.7m to US$7m. The company has said that results have been helped by improved cost controls but warns that foreign currency shortages meant it was struggling to meet otherwise firm consumer demand. Ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages volumes grew 55% year on year while spirits and wines registered 25% and 22% growth respectively.
Pioneer Foods, the South African food and drinks company that owns brands including Bokomo/Weetbix and Ceres, has reported a 7.8% increase in revenue for the four months ended 31st January 2019. However, it has noted that much of that increase has come from price inflation bread, flour, rice and fruit. Pioneer Foods has also warned of falling exports to markets in neighbouring countries as a result of weak economic conditions.
