TheCable

Guinness Nigeria Plc has notified the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the investing public that it may suffer a profit slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was disclosed in a notice signed by Stanley Njoroge, its finance and strategy director.

“The adverse impact of the sharp contraction in economic activities and the knock-on effect of the COVID-19 lockdown took a toll on the on-trade segment of the business across all our markets. Production and revenues have thus been negatively affected,” the notice sent to the NSE read.

“Guinness Nigeria carried out a comprehensive review of its asset base and made a strategic decision to impair a certain category of assets, which were generating suboptimal returns. This is in line with the company’s long-term strategy of delivering value to shareholders.

“Due to a combination of the impact of COVID-19 and the asset impairment, we expect the profitability of the company for the financial year to June 30, 2020, to be impacted.

“The company’s balance sheet, however, remains strong, and this gives the board the confidence that the company has the right resources to continue to deliver the strategy.

“The audited financial results for the year as approved by the board will be published in accordance with extant rules and guidelines after the completion of the year-end audit in the month of August 2020.”

In its nine-month financial statement for the period ended March 31, 2020, the company reported N96.0 billion revenue and a profit after tax (PAT) of N1.4 billion.