Fortified Sugar brought in the highest revenue to BUA Foods of its different business segments in 2023.

The firm’s total revenue rose by 74.13 per cent to N728.48bn in 2023 from N418.35bn in the prior year, underpinned by 153 per cent growth in income from fortified sugar to N327.55bn.

This was revealed in the unaudited financial statements for the year ended December 2023 filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

Data from the World Bank revealed global sugar prices increased by 26 per cent to $0.53/kg in August 2023 from $0.42/kg in January 2023.

Income from bakery flour was also up by over 151 per cent year-on-year to N200.36bn, while sugar (non-fortified) brought in N93.07bn revenue and N87.88bn was generated through pasta.

The firm recorded its lowest income of N907m from molasses.

Despite a 116 per cent increase in finance costs to N18.89nm and a foreign exchange loss of N73.56bn, the firm’s profit improved by 22.11 per cent to N111.54bn, compared to N91.34bn in the previous year.

Commenting on the results, the Managing Director, Ayodele Abioye, said “This is a solid performance in the face of an unending challenging macro environment. BUA Foods delivered strong growth despite the persistent devaluation of the naira during the period, which led to a substantial and negative impact of foreign exchange losses.

“Despite the margin squeeze on operating profit to 82 per cent, our business remained resilient to deliver bottom-line growth of 22 per cent to N111.5bn.

“Our expansion strategies across all frontiers continue to crystallise in support of growth. We remained committed to accelerating delivery in alternative and local raw materials sourcing across all our operating units, this is including the BIP project for sugar development as a softening opportunity to rely less on forex.”

BUA Foods, founded by billionaire businessman, Abdulsamad Rabiu, is one of the largest food companies in the country.

Its stocks closed trading on Wednesday priced at N 271.8.