FRIESLANDCAMPINA WAMCO RECORDS 13.2% REVENUE GROWTH IN 2017 DESPITE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES

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FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc announced on Thursday its 2017 financial results at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.  The firm said that full-year sales grew 13.2% to ₦140bn, from ₦123.75bn in 2016.

The leading dairy maker in Nigeria known for such brands as Peak milk and Three Crowns milk, among others said that it showed resilience and determination to meet its targets and thrive amidst a difficult operating environment.

The firm noted that net profit declined by 13.5% to ₦12bn from ₦13.8bn in 2016, blamed on a fire incident at their Evaporated milk factory in 2017 which reduced production and required the company to import high volume of Evaporated milk to cushion the gap from the resulting fire incident.

In spite of continued foreign exchange constraints, high inflation rate, and low consumer purchasing power, the company said it increased investment to improve operational efficiency by procuring two new sterilizers, a conveyor, two high-speed sachet filling machines with improved technology and a dust extractor system to optimize safety in the Powder Plant.

The firm also made significant investments in its Dairy Development Programme to increase opportunities in local dairy farming. The company invested in an additional milk collection center and started the Farmer2Farmer programme to help improve milk quality, volume, and dairy farming skills through one-on-one coaching by Dutch co-operative member-farmers from Royal FrieslandCampina, The Netherlands.

However, the company noted that it imported ₦96.7bn worth of dairy raw materials, while ₦16.2bn or 16.7% was procured locally due to the challenges it faced during the year.

Dividend

The shareholders approved 75% of net profit as dividend to its shareholders which translates to ₦9.22 per ₦0.50 share in the year under review.

Outlook

In his statement to the media, regarding the company’s 2018 outlook, the Managing Director, Mr. Ben Langat explained that foreign exchange constraints, high inflation rate, and low consumer purchasing power are likely to be some of the challenges this year.

“We expect consumers to maintain their current spending behavior of top-up neighborhood shopping, particularly for milk. Availability and affordability will remain major determining factors in purchase decision making,” he said.

“FrieslandCampina WAMCO will continue to work within best global practices, leverage opportunities to invest and continue to satisfy our consumers as we maintain our leadership position in the dairy sector,” Langat said.