TheCable

Hans Essaadi, managing director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, says the company recorded a significant business performance in 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation challenges.

Essaadi disclosed this at the pre-annual general meeting media briefing of the company recently held in Lagos, adding that the performance was mainly driven by robust sales volume growth.

The company declared a revenue of N437.19 billion, representing a 29.7% increase compared to N337.01 billion recorded during the corresponding period in 2020.

A further breakdown of the audited results shows that the company’s profit for the period under review grew by 71.8%, rising from N7.53 billion in 2020 to N12.93 billion in 2021.

He noted that though production costs increased significantly in the 2021 financial year, the company continued to mitigate the impact without imposing any additional cost on consumers.

According to him, the significant increase in sales volume for the 2021 financial year despite the impact of inflation could be attributed to their innovative workforce and the recently launched EverGreen Strategy.

The managing director explained that with innovation being its primary driver for growth, the company would continue to leverage innovative ideas to deliver superior and balanced growth by focusing on its customers and consumers.

He stated that though the impact of COVID-19 created many uncertainties in the business environment in the 2021 financial year, the company saw it as an opportunity to redevelop relationships and foster stronger emotional connections with consumers by introducing new ideas and bringing back initiatives such as Gulder Ultimate Search.

He explained further that the company deepened its connection with consumers during the financial year by relaunching some of its premium lager, mainstream lager, and other non-alcoholic brands such as Amstel Malta, Maltina, and Desperado into the market and telling their stories. Some of the commercials that captured the storytelling narrative include the amplification of Niger Bridge’s icon city with Life Beer and Isedowo with Goldberg, among many others.

Essaadi further stated that the 2021 financial year marked a significant milestone for the company with the celebration of the 75th anniversary, which provided a unique opportunity to celebrate with employees, partners, and consumers for their consistent loyalty to the business.

He assured stakeholders that the company remains committed to keeping its balance sheet strong while also ensuring that the health, safety and welfare of its employees, customers, communities, and partners are protected.