PZ Cussons is selling its Nigerian dairy business, Nutricima, to FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina. The moves comes after PZ Cussons profits in Nigeria had fallen dramatically for the second successive year, prompting a strategic review.
Nutricima manufactures milk and yoghurt drinks under the Nunu, Yo, and Olympic brands.
WAMCO was founded in 1973 as the West Africa Milk Company Nigeria and is the Nigerian market leader. It started operations in 1975 and manufactures the Peak, Three Crowns and Friso milk brands.
The move comes as PZ Cussons undergoes a strategic realignment, partly due to poor results in Nigeria. It has also sold its Polish personal care brand Luksja to Athens-based personal care company Sarantis Group. PZ Cussons board chair Caroline Silver has said that the sales in Nigeria and Poland are part of the company’s move to its “Focus, Scale and Accelerate’ strategy, as we continue to streamline the Group to focus investment on core Personal Care and Beauty brands.”
For the financial year to end August 2019, PZ Cussons’ annual revenues in Nigeria fell by 7.7%, profit before tax fell 16%, while net profit fell by 40%. The year prior profit before tax had fallen by 51%.
