The Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced a dividend payout of N7.51bn for 2020, a 53.35 per cent decrease from N16.1bn in 2019.

At a media briefing held on Wednesday in Lagos, the brewing company noted that it had earmarked the entire net profit of N7.5bn recorded in 2020 for payout to shareholders as cash dividends.

The Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku, said the company would pay a final dividend of N5.52bn in addition to an interim dividend of N1.99bn earlier paid during the business year.

He stated that shareholders would receive a final dividend per share of N0.69 in addition to N0.25 earlier paid during the year, bringing the total dividend per share to N0.94.

With this, the parent company of NB, Heineken B.V., with a 56 per cent stake, would earn N4.2bn in dividend.

The company’s board of directors recommended the adoption of a dividend conversion option under which shareholders could exchange their cash dividends for ordinary shares of the company.

The net revenue of the brewing company increased by 4.3 per cent in 2020 to N337bn, as against N323bn recorded during the corresponding period in 2019.

The 13.9 per cent increase in Nigerian Breweries’ costs of goods sold and the 51.8 per cent increase in its finance cost brought about a 53.35 per cent decreased profit in 2020.

According to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Bel, the 2020 results were adversely impacted by COVID-19, VAT increase, FX devaluation and scarcity of foreign exchange.

He said the group expected to have a challenging operating environment with devaluation, forex scarcity, inflation and affordability in 2021, but gave the assurance that the company would strive to sustain the performance of the second half of 2020.