Nigeria’s Leading Consumer Companies Collectively Suffered A Loss of N988 Billion Due to Naira Depreciation
Ten consumer goods companies in Nigeria collectively experienced a foreign exchange loss amounting to N987.7 billion in the past year due to the devaluation of the naira, according to data compiled by BusinessDay.
These companies include Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Nestle Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, International Breweries Plc, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc, and Lafarge Africa Plc.
The FX losses reported by these firms in 2023 saw a significant increase compared to the previous year, surging over sevenfold from approximately N129.8 billion. Notably, Cadbury reported no FX gain or loss in 2022.
It’s worth mentioning that the FX loss figures for two of the companies, PZ Cussons and Guinness, cover a six-month period ending in November and December, respectively. PZ Cussons reported an FX loss of N87.1 billion for the six months ending in November, a notable increase from N2.7 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.
Guinness had a loss of N15.7 billion for the six months ended December, up from N4.53 billion in the same period of 2022.
“The devaluation was massive as we moved from about N450/$ at the official rate to almost N1,600/$,” Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprises, said.
He said most of the consumer firms have exposure in terms of their foreign liabilities that they used to get their raw materials, facilities or all sorts of things from their parent companies.
