Prime Business Africa
Guinness Nigeria survived a decline in its bottom line thanks to a surge in other income, reduction in debt and remeasurement of foreign currency (FC) balances between January and March 2026.
According to the company’s unaudited financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2026, Guinness generated N122.77 billion from the sale of its alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe turnover increased merely by 3.74 percent when compared to the N118.33 billion generated in the corresponding period in 2025, according to Prime Business Africa’s analysis of the financial statement.
Production Costs outgrew revenue, rising by 7.42 percent during the period under review, as Guinness incurred N79.29 billion as cost of sales, surpassing the N73.81 billion expended in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
As a result, Guinness’ gross profit decreased to N43.47 billion between the first three months of this year, from the N44.52 billion recorded in Q1 2025, representing a 2.35 percent decline.
However, the decline was offset by a 938.24 percent growth in the manufacturer’s other income — driven by sales of by-product — as it increased to N303.50 million in Q1 2026, compared to the N29.23 million generated in the same period last year.
Administrative expenses eat into Guinness earnings, after the company expended N8.11 billion in Q1 2026, exceeding the N7.67 billion incurred in the first quarter of 2025, indicating an increase of 5.69 percent.
However, the company’s marketing and distribution expenses decreased marginally by 2.09 percent during the period under review to N18.48 billion, falling below the N18.88 billion expended in Q1 2025.
Regardless, Guinness suffered a 4.53 percent decline in operating profit, which dropped to N17.17 billion in the first three months of this year, as the company failed to replicate the N17.99 billion reported the year before.
The company shielded its bottom line from declining after recording a 68.11 percent decrease in finance expenses — driven by debt reduction — which declined from N7.77 billion in Q1 2026 to N2.47 billion in the same period this year.
Also, remeasurement of foreign currency pushed finance income up significantly by 1,605.01 percent, as the latter surged to N1.04 billion in the first quarter of 2026, above the N61.35 million recorded in Q1 2025.
This led to profit before tax (PBT) to rise by 53.18 percent quarter-on-quarter to N15.74 billion in Q1 2026, exceeding the N10.27 billion reported in the corresponding period in 2025.
As a result, Guinness’ income tax increased by 64.61 percent during the period under review to N5.35 billion, against the N3.25 billion recorded in Q1 2025.
Following the tax deduction, the brewer was left with N10.39 billion profit after tax (PAT) in Q1 2026, which increased by 47.89 percent from the N7.02 billion generated in Q1 2025.
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Prime Business Africa is a business, economy and policy news platform founded in 2021 by veteran journalist and media scholar, Dr Marcel Mbamalu, after he left The Guardian as Editor.
Dr Mbamalu, who serves as Founder and Publisher, set up Prime Business Africa to deliver sharp, data-driven reporting on Nigeria’s markets, trade, investment, and governance trends for decision-makers, entrepreneurs, and policy leaders.
He also writes The Bottom Line, a backpage column for Punch Newspaper every Thursday.
Under his leadership, Prime Business Africa combines deep newsroom experience with a focus on accountability journalism, aiming to bridge information gaps between Africa’s private sector and the global economy.
