TheCable

Nestle Nigeria Plc says naira devaluation in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 caused a net loss of N142.7 billion.

The company disclosed this in its financial results for Q1 on Tuesday.

The naira depreciated from N988.46 against the dollar on January 2, to N1,309.39/$ on March 28 at the official market.

According to the company’s financial statement, sales grew by 43.4 percent to N183.5 billion, compared to N127.97 billion in the same period last year.

“Gross profit was N49.1 billion vs. N51.6 billion in the same period of 2023. Operating profit stood at N20.9 billion,” the company said.

“Further devaluation of the naira in Jan-March 2024 led to the revaluation of our foreign currency obligations which had an adverse impact on the profit after tax resulting in a net loss of -N142.7 billion for the quarter.”

Commenting on the results, Wassim Elhusseini, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nestlé Nigeria, said the business environment was challenging in the first quarter.

“Our first quarter sales reflect a positive growth momentum despite a challenging business environment,” Elhusseini said.

He said looking ahead into the rest of the year, Nestle Nigeria’s focus remains on optimising operations to ensure the availability and accessibility of its products.

In its 2023 operations, Nestle Nigeria reported a net loss of N79 billion from the 2023 operations.

Also, huge net foreign exchange (FX) losses of N195 billion wiped off the company’s capital base.