Nigeria’s biggest consumer-goods companies posted sharp profit gains in the first nine months of the year even as shoppers bought less. That divergence underscores how unevenly the country’s economic recovery is being felt.
Nestle Nigeria Plc’s pretax profit rose 52% to 193.9 billion naira ($146 million), while Guinness Nigeria Plc’s climbed 55% and Nigerian Breweries Plc’s 33%.
Six of seven listed consumer companies reviewed by Nairametrics grew revenue more slowly than the 14.6% inflation rate, meaning they sold fewer goods in real terms. Five of them still raised profit by 18% or more.
The results show the gains from President Bola Tinubu’s overhaul of the economy are reaching corporate balance sheets faster than household budgets.
A firmer naira and cheaper raw materials cut costs for manufacturers, but about 63% of Nigerians were living in poverty in 2025, according to the World Bank, up from 56% two years earlier.
The company said lower sugar and rice sales reflected “strategic and competitive market pricing initiatives,” while flour suffered from “softer demand.” Rice revenue more than halved, while pasta, a cheaper staple, grew 32%.
Cheaper borrowing did the rest. Nestle’s net finance costs shrank to 14.3 billion naira from 53.4 billion naira as the currency stabilized at about 1,329 per dollar, from 1,475 a year earlier. Guinness’s finance costs fell to 5.8 billion naira from 15.3 billion naira, and Nigerian Breweries’ interest expense fell to 3.2 billion naira from 37.4 billion naira.
Investors appear unconvinced the consumer gains will last. The NGX Consumer Goods Index slipped 1.09% in October as results rolled in, while the Industrial Goods Index, home to the cement makers, rallied 16.85%. Nestle and Nigerian Breweries each fell about 5% over the month. Guinness, the only consumer company whose sales outpaced inflation, gained 9.9%.
Balance sheets are nonetheless healing after the losses of the 2023–2024 currency crisis. Nestle’s shareholders’ equity rose to 116.3 billion naira from 12.9 billion naira in December. Nigerian Breweries posted a third-quarter profit of 21 billion naira, compared with a 4 billion-naira loss a year earlier. Nestle said it has now been profitable for eight straight quarters since returning to profit at the end of 2024.
The central bank cut its benchmark rate by 3.5 percentage points to 23% in September, a move Dangote Cement described as the biggest single cut in the bank’s history. That may help revive demand, but the margin gains that powered this year’s profits will be harder to repeat. For 2027, the test is whether these companies can sell more, not just earn more from less.
