International Breweries’ loss extends to seventh year

International Breweries has seen its loss after tax extended to the seventh year, as it recorded an N113bn loss in the 2024 financial year.

According to its audited financial report filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday, the brewer saw its loss worsen to N113.61bn from N70.03bn in 2023, marking a 62.25 per cent rise.

International Breweries had been on a losing streak since the 2018 financial year when it recorded a loss of N3.87bn, which grew to N27.79bn in 2019 and dipped to N16.08bn in 2020. The company’s loss slightly rose to N17.66bn in 2021 and higher to N21.63bn in 2022.

However, in the 2024 financial year, the company’s revenue reached a nine-year high of N488.96bn. Compared to the previous year’s revenue of N260.59bn, this was an 87.63 per cent jump year-on-year, indicating strong revenue growth.

Highlighting some of its challenges, the brewer in its annual report said, “While continually delivering strong revenue growth, our inability to source adequate foreign exchange due to market illiquidity impacted profitability, as we incurred significant FX losses on our foreign currency-denominated debt and liabilities.

“To address this, the company successfully raised fresh capital through a rights issue and settled the outstanding loan liability. Going into 2025, the company expects to return to profitability in the absence of any significant non-operating foreign currency exposure.

The company generated positive operating cash flows in the current year, 2024: N148.90bn (2023: N78.60bn) to cover its short-term obligations. The company is strategically positioned for success in the future and continues to have the backing of its ultimate parent company.”

International Breweries opened its N588bn rights issue programme in May 2024. The brewer sought to issue 161,172,395,100 new ordinary shares of two kobo each at an offer price of N3.65 per share. According to the rights issue circular, the terms include six new ordinary shares for every share held by existing shareholders.

It later expanded the offering to allow non-shareholders of the company to participate in its rights issue.

The brewer, which is a part of AB InBev, the largest brewer in the world, said at the time that the net proceeds from the rights issue would be used to settle its outstanding US dollar-denominated loan and provide working capital support.

“We are committed to creating sustainable value for our shareholders while fortifying our position in the Nigerian beverage industry. Together, we will continue to brew success, deliver long-term value for our shareholders, and create a future with more cheers,” said Finance Director of International Breweries David Tomlinson.

Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired SABMiller, then the world’s second-largest brewer, in 2016.

This acquisition included all of SABMiller’s Nigerian subsidiaries: Intafact Beverages Limited in Onitsha, International Breweries Plc in Ilesha, and Pabod Breweries Limited in Port Harcourt. The three breweries were merged into one under the International Breweries label in 2017, with AB InBev being the majority shareholder.

As of December 2024, AB InBev Nigeria Holdings BV holds 161,580,471,272, equating to 96.1 per cent of the shares of the brewer.