Fortified Sugar generated the most income for BUA Foods among its several business sectors in 2023.
The PUNCH revealed that the company’s overall sales increased by 74.13% to N728.48 billion in 2023 from N418.35 billion the year before, driven mostly by a 153% increase in revenue from fortified sugar to N327.55 billion.
The unaudited financial results for the year ended December 2023 that were submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited disclosed this.
Global sugar prices rose by 26% from $0.42/kg in January 2023 to $0.53/kg in August 2023, according to data from the World Bank.
The National Sugar Development Council reports that in July 2023, the average price of sugar increased by 44.2% to N835,400 per metric tone from N579,400 in the corresponding period in 2022.
Expert Market Research projects that the Nigerian sugar market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5% between 2024 and 2032.
Additionally, sales from bread flour increased by almost 151% year over year to N200.36 billion; non-fortified sugar brought in N93.07 billion, and pasta brought in N87.88 billion.
However, the company’s lowest income from molasses was N907 million.
The company’s earnings increased by 22.11 per cent to N111.54 billion from N91.34 billion the year before, despite a 116 per cent increase in financing costs to N18.89 billion and a N73.56 billion foreign exchange loss.
The Managing Director, Ayodele Abioye, commented on the outcomes, stating, “This is a solid performance in the face of an unending challenging macro environment.
“Despite the ongoing devaluation of the naira during that time, which had a significant and detrimental effect on foreign exchange losses, BUA Foods managed to achieve considerable development.”
He added that the firm remained resilient to generate bottom-line growth of 22 per cent to N111.5bn, even as the margin strain on operating profit reached 82%.
“Our expansion tactics continue to solidify in order to facilitate growth across all frontiers. We stayed dedicated to speeding up the procurement of local and alternative raw materials for all of our operating units; this includes the BIP project for sugar production as a potential opportunity to reduce our reliance on forex,” he concluded
