Nigeria’s top breweries, including Nigerian Breweries, Guinness Nigeria, and International Breweries, have faced big losses in 2023 and the first half of 2024 because of the Naira losing value.
The Naira’s drop by more than 70% in less than a year has badly hurt companies that depend on imported materials, leading to big losses and lower returns for shareholders.
Nigerian Breweries had a net loss of N105.8 billion in 2023, mostly due to an FX revaluation loss of N153.3 billion. Guinness Nigeria also had a net loss of N54.8 billion for the year ending June 30, 2024, with an FX revaluation loss of N89.4 billion. The financial troubles continue, with Nigerian Breweries reporting a net loss of N149.5 billion for the nine months ending September 30, 2024, and Guinness Nigeria showing a net loss of N12.2 billion in the third quarter of 2024.
The problems in the brewing industry are caused by several issues, such as losses from currency changes, high inflation, higher costs due to using imported materials, and the fluctuating value of the Naira, which affects profits before taxes.
For example, Guinness Nigeria’s costs for making their products went up by 170% compared to the same time last year, reaching N111.6 billion in the first three months of 2025.
Champion Breweries was the only publicly listed brewer that made a profit, earning N370.6 million. The Managing Director, Adoga Inalegwu, said their success was because they planned ahead for the main materials they needed in 2023. “In February 2023, we made an agreement to make sure we had enough sorghum, our main ingredient, for the rest of that year.”
