Unilever Plc 3 Months financial Summary

3 Months UNILEVER  PLC REPORT 2017 N'000 2016 N'000 change Year End Revenue 22,172,314 16,782,159 32% December Profit/Loss before taxation 2,180,042 1,419,302 54% Profit/Loss for the period 1,603,090 1,041,404 54% Issued Shares (Units) 3,783,296,250 3,783,296,250 Basic Earnings Per Shares (Kobo) 42.00 28.00 -50% Last total dividend paid (Kobo) 0.00 0.00

The financials for Q1 2017 is gradually coming in.

Unilever released its Q1 2017 result with the following note worthy observations:

 Although revenue grew by 32%, the cost of sales in Q1 2017 was 38% of revenue compared with 62% of revenue in 2016.

It was observed that the company managed its Marketing and Administrative expenses well in 2017 as it declined by 24.24%.

A further anaysis of the revenue shows that the company grew on all is major products. Food Products grew by 25% , Personal Care grew by 50% and Home Care grew by 51.35%.

The revenue by geographical location shows that Domestic sales grew by 31.25% and export declined by 24.02%.

The Quarter on quarter performance of the company was also impressive as it grew by 15.79% in terms of revenue and 6.67% in terms of PAT. This was so because the Q4 2016 was the biggest in terms of revenue and earnings.

It was reported on Reuters that Unilever Nigeria Plc plans to raise N63 billion through a right issue. This is a tall order considering the fact that the Market is not ripe for such a huge amount of money for a non-Financial Institution company. 

We belief the Company must have cut out its plans as regards this rights issue and when it planned to hit the Market although it  mentioned as soon as possible, and that can be immediate or even a year or more from now.  The Market is still awaiting the details of the Rights but with teasing results like this they are making their intention known.

The Economy had been predicted to come out of recession by half year 2017, with inflation gradually coming down currently at 17.78% which expectedly would increase the purchasing power of the consumers; we expect FMCGs which Unilever is one of should enjoy a good year.

The devaluation of Naira in Q2 2016 had a devastating effect on the Company performance in Q2 2016 but with relative sanity returned to the Forex Market we expect the Company to be able to plan better and hedge against unpredictable trends.

The Stock was marked down for a dividend of 10k today on the  Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).