According to the firm, continuous product innovation, improved capacity utilisation, and effective route to market strategies aided the group’s outstanding financial performance across its core business segments.
Indeed, the firm’s results showed improved performance across food, agro-allied and support segments delivering growth of 51 per cent in third quarter and 49 per cent in nine months, behind strong volume growth and mix.
Commenting on the Q3 Financials, Omoboyede Olusanya, the Group Managing Director, said: “The Group remains committed to executing its overall long-term strategy to maintain growth and sustain profitability by increasing local content through product innovation across our core value chains, as evidenced by the third-quarter’s earnings trend.
“In our new operating environment, our increased operational efficiency and accelerated optimisation plans have resulted in competitive product offerings and profitability. We will continue to invest in production capacity and make investment decisions that will strategically position the group for the opportunities that will arise from the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.”
The Group’s strong operating performance was also supported by the increase in capital expenditure investments from N10 billion to N33 billion and enhanced sourcing of local raw materials during the harvest period in comparison to the previous year, evidencing strong focus on expansion while maximizing growth prospects.
As part of its expansion plans to meet growth demands, the Group installed a new pasta line, concluded the construction of a soya plant in Agbara, and purchased sixty new trucks during the review period. The firm added that its Kaduna Feed Mill is near completion and is projected to be operational by May 2022.
The food segment displayed increased momentum in retail, boosting profitability during the quarter. Top line improvement was driven by 18 per cent volume growth alongside sustained demand in the segment. B2C contributed 34 per cent to the segment revenue during the quarter.
A review of the result showed persistent good operating performance in the food segment while continuous improvement in the agro-allied and support segments alongside strong volume growth resulted in an impressive Profit Before Tax of N25bn in nine months and N9.8bn in Q3 – up 7% and 8% respectively.
Agro-allied segment in nine months contributed 42% (N10.7bn) to the Group’s Profit Before Tax following the increase in local demand and improved export operations.
