By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Beermaker, Nigerian Breweries Plc said on Monday its profit after tax for the period ended December 31, 2018 declined -41.18 percent to N19.44 billion from N33.05 billion recorded a year earlier.

In the same vein, pretax profit depreciated -36.90 percent to N29.42 billion from N46.63 billion declared the same period of 2017.

Revenue of Nigerian Breweries decreased to N350.22 billion from N365.79 billion posted in the corresponding quarter of 2017, the brewer said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

According to FBNQuest report, year-to-date NB shares have underperformed the index. “The shares have shed -2.9 percent ytd compared with the +4.1 percent ytd return delivered by the ASI” the report affirmed. 

The brewer has proposed a final dividend of N1.83 per share which translates to a yield of 2.2 percent. “The dividend per share is around 54 percent lower than our N2.82 forecast (N3.11 for consensus),” the FBNQuest report said.

The company for the 2017 operating year, offered shareholders a final dividend of  N3.13 per share compared to N1.83 current offer; indicating a shortfall of -41.53 percent dividend returns to investors.