Unilever shareholders okay dividend as board presents 2021 turnaround financials

BY ONOME AMUGE

Leading consumer goods manufacturer, Unilever Nigeria Plc, has declared a turnover of N70.5 billion for the financial year ended December 2021, even as the board assured shareholders of their commitment to good corporate governance to drive sustainability and efficiency across the company’s operations.

Unilever’s results for the year under review reflects considerable progress across all indices, fostered by improved operational performance and greater investment in the supply and distribution network, which resulted in high volume.

According to the company’s financial report, revenue from its continuing operations rose 35 percent to N70.5 billion from N52.2 billion in 2020.

In addition, profit before tax from its continuing operations increased to N1.9 billion, compared to a N4.5 billion loss the previous year, while profit after tax from its continuing operations stood at N0.7 billion, up from a loss of N3.8 billion in 2020.

Addressing shareholders at the company’s 97th annual general meeting,Nnaemeka Achebe, chairman of the board, commended the shareholders for their trust and loyalty to the company, despite the challenging business environment in the last two years.

Commenting on the financial results, Achebe said the company’s operational discipline on secondary sales, trade debt, overdue, and cash management has driven the right kind of growth in 2021 despite the challenges faced over the year.

Achebe added that the management will maintain a strategic approach to the company’s operations to further achieve profitability and long-term growth.

In his remarks, Carl Cruz, managing director of Unilever Nigeria Plc. stated that the considerable improvement in the 2021 financial statements is a direct outcome of the company’s management and staff’s renewed commitment to reaching new heights.

According to Cruz, the company’s intensified focus on business fundamentals such as reinvesting in the brands, enhancing secondary sales, and ensuring adequate liquidity while tightening controls on cost in 2020, resulted in better operational discipline and governance of the business in 2021.

Dwelling on the financial figures recorded over the period in review, he said:

“We saw top line growth of 35 per cent over last year and a consistent quarter-on-quarter average growth of five per cent. The bottom line grew by N7.4 billion from a loss of N4.0 billion in 2020.

“Our active management of cost inflation benefited our P&L by 800bps, an improvement on gross margin. Cash managed properly such that we are declaring dividends after two years at 50k per share. Cash generated in the year at N18.8bn from N1.2bn in 2020.”

The company assured shareholders it will continue to monitor the business environment and respond appropriately to the challenges with a view to providing solutions through its brands and operations.