Cost Cutting, Tax Rebate Save Unilever Nigeria From 2020Q1 Loss

The board of Unilever Nigeria Plc, on Friday, presented its unaudited financials for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020, showing a significant 30.71% drop in sales revenue.
The impact of the sales decline may not be unconnected with the lockdown owing to the Coronavirus pandemic following which movement of people has been significantly restricted to contain the spread of the virus. This was however mitigated by the equally significant 35.56% cut in the cost of sales; 28.13% drop in selling and distribution expenses, 99.35% drop in finance cost, and a tax rebate.

According to the result, revenue dropped from N19.235bn from the previous first quarter’s N13.328bn; while the cost of sales fell to N9.902bn from N15.366bn; resulting in gross profit of N3.426bn, an 11.43% drop from the preceding first quarter’s N3.869bn. A breakdown of the financials shows that the food products segment contributed N7.412bn, down from N9.254bn in 2019; while home and personal care fell from N9.981bn to N5.916bn.
Selling and distribution expenses fell to N617.706m from N859.463m; just as marketing and administrative expenses jumped by 53.39% from N.517bn to N2.328bn.

Impairment loss on trade receivables dropped by 75.43% from N20.407m to N49.24m; other income fell by 17.55%from N26.335m to N21.713m; operating income dropped by 6.59% to N453.448m, compared to N1.317bn in the corresponding period of 2019.
Finance income dropped by 38.35% from N803.83m to N495.637m, while finance cost slipped by 99.35% to N614,000 as against N94.393m in the prior first quarter, resulting in profit before tax of N948.471m, down by 53.22% from N2.027bn.

A tax rebate of N165.959m, compared to the tax expense of N506.746m, left net profit at N1.114bn, down by 26.71% from N1.52bn in the corresponding period of 2019, resulting in Earnings Per Share of 19 kobo, down from the previous 26 kobo.

https://investdata.com.ng/2020/04/cost-cutting-tax-rebate-save-unilever-nigeria-from-2020q1-loss/