Combined finance costs across seven major listed consumer goods companies fell 14.4 per cent to N124.94bn in the first half of 2026, down from N145.94bn in the corresponding period of 2025, as they recovered from the naira devaluation shock and raced to reduce their debt.
The decline builds on a trend that emerged in the first quarter of the year, as companies that took on foreign exchange-driven debt during Nigeria’s currency devaluation in 2023 and 2024 continue to work down their obligations.
A Saturday PUNCH analysis covered Nestlé Nigeria, NASCON Allied Industries, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Guinness Nigeria, International Breweries and Champion Breweries. These fast-moving consumer goods companies disclosed a gross finance cost figure.
Cadbury Nigeria was excluded from the total because it did not disclose a gross finance income and expense split, though its implied net finance charge, derived from the gap between its operating profit and pre-tax profit, fell by an estimated 89.2 per cent, from about N1.74bn to about N0.19bn.
The sector-wide decline, however, masks a sharp split. Four companies posted double-digit improvements in finance costs, while three recorded increases, one of them by more than eightfold.
Analysts react
In separate interviews with Saturday PUNCH, experts, including the Senior Analyst, FMCG, at CardinalStone Securities, Oluwakemi Abiodun, said the divergence came down to different companies pursuing different debt strategies.
“The short way to summarise this is different companies, different debt strategies. The companies highlighted as having recorded lower finance costs have largely achieved this through a deliberate focus on reducing their debt balances,” Abiodun said.
She cited Dangote Sugar Refinery as an example. “Dangote Sugar recently raised a rights issue specifically to deleverage, underscoring management’s commitment to reducing its debt burden. Even now that the proceeds from the rights issue haven’t been reflected in its balance sheet, the company used its strong operating cash flows to pay down existing debt in H1’26,” she said.
Abiodun said Nigerian Breweries and Guinness Nigeria had followed a similar path. “Similarly, the brewers, NB and Guinness, have both communicated clear strategies to materially reduce leverage, and we can see this play out in their recent debt numbers,” she said.
However, the analyst noted that Nestlé Nigeria stood apart from its peers. “Nestlé, however, is taking a different approach, with a greater focus on servicing interest obligations and letters of credit, rather than prioritising a rapid reduction in its outstanding debt balance,” Abiodun said.
Asked what was mainly driving the decline in finance costs across the sector, Abiodun pointed to improved earnings. “The main reason is the focus on deleveraging, especially as operating performance is picking up and is stronger,” she said.
On his part, the Investment Research Analyst, Nathanael Disu, linked the trend to the sector’s broader recovery from the naira devaluation shock. “The decline in finance cost can be linked to deleveraging of their debt obligations,” Disu said.
He said stronger balance sheets had put companies in a better position to pay down debt. “Most FMCG companies have recovered from the FX-induced bottom-line losses driven by improved macroeconomic dynamics; as such, they have better financial buffers to deleverage their debt obligations,” he said.
A ranking of the seven companies by the percentage change in finance costs shows Guinness Nigeria as the sector’s strongest improver, followed by NASCON Allied Industries, Nigerian Breweries and Dangote Sugar Refinery, all of which cut finance costs by double digits.
Nestlé Nigeria, International Breweries and Champion Breweries moved in the opposite direction, recording increases. Guinness Nigeria’s finance costs fell 64.9 per cent, from N12.44bn to N4.36bn, the sharpest improvement in the sector. NASCON Allied Industries followed with a 58.5 per cent decline, to N171.6m from N413.1m.
Nigerian Breweries cut finance costs by 50.4 per cent, to N10.16bn from N20.51bn, while Dangote Sugar Refinery’s finance costs fell 22.4 per cent, to N50.42bn from N64.97bn — the smallest percentage decline among the improvers, but the largest in naira terms.
At the other end, Nestlé Nigeria’s finance costs rose 10.9 per cent, to N47.86bn from N43.17bn. International Breweries’ finance costs rose 80.6 per cent, to N7.05bn from N3.90bn. Champion Breweries recorded the sharpest increase in the sector, with Group finance costs rising more than eightfold, to N4.91bn from N543.7m.
Guinness Nigeria posted the best-improved finance line in the sector. Gross finance expense fell 64.9 per cent to N4.36bn, while finance income surged to N1.18bn from N110.7m.
Net finance cost dropped 74.2 per cent, from N12.33bn to N3.18bn, and was the single biggest driver of the company’s 60.9 per cent growth in pre-tax profit — a bigger factor, in fact, than its 14.8 per cent growth in operating profit.
NASCON Allied Industries carries almost no debt, with non-current borrowings of just N38.6m, so finance costs were never a major line item for the company. They still fell 58.5 per cent to N171.6m, while finance income more than doubled to N5.35bn.
NASCON now runs a net finance income position rather than a cost, reflecting a cash-rich balance sheet, with cash and cash equivalents of N46.05bn at the end of the period.
Nigerian Breweries’ finance costs fell 50.4 per cent to N10.16bn. The company’s balance sheet backs up the trend as its interest-bearing loans and borrowings fell to zero, from N59.71bn at the end of December 2025.
The deleveraging shows up directly in the company’s equity position, which flipped from an accumulated deficit of N72.17bn to retained earnings of N13.65bn within six months.
Dangote Sugar Refinery’s finance costs fell 22.4 per cent to N50.42bn, a smaller percentage improvement than the brewers, but the largest naira reduction of any company in the sector.
Combined with a near-doubling of its gross margin, from 12 per cent to 23.9 per cent, the lower finance costs helped the company swing from a pre-tax loss of N22.11bn in the first half of 2025 to a pre-tax profit of N44.09bn in the first half of 2026.
Nestlé Nigeria moved against the sector trend. Its gross finance costs rose 10.9 per cent to N47.86bn. What rescued its net finance position was a jump in finance income, to N33.26bn from N1.12bn, largely reflecting a foreign exchange translation gain.
Net finance cost still improved 65.3 per cent, from N42.05bn to N14.60bn, but the underlying cost of the company’s debt rose during the period rather than falling, in line with CardinalStone analyst Abiodun’s assessment that Nestlé has prioritised servicing its obligations over reducing its debt balance.
International Breweries also moved against the trend. Its finance costs rose 80.6 per cent to N7.05bn. Because finance income also grew by 27.6 per cent to N11.96bn, the company still posted net finance income rather than a net cost, but that net income shrank 10.3 per cent, from N5.47bn to N4.91bn.
Champion Breweries recorded the most dramatic move in the sector. Group finance costs rose more than ninefold, from N543.7m to N4.91bn, alongside a broader corporate transformation that saw the company consolidate a new subsidiary, adding N3.49bn in goodwill and a first-time non-controlling interest to its balance sheet.
Net finance cost rose 865 per cent at the Group level and 910 per cent at the standalone parent level, a jump that pushed the parent company to a pre-tax loss for the period.