Unilever Nigeria Grows Profit by 100% to N21.98bn in 9M-2025
Staying on track to achieve its earnings guidance, Unilever Nigeria Plc grew profit by about 100% year on year to N21.981 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2025 from N11.009 billion in the equivalent period in 2024.
Analysts said price increases implemented across product lines by companies in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector from the previous year into 2025 have helped partially cushion the impact of broader macroeconomic headwinds that have challenged performance across the industry.
Even with that, FMCG continues to face significant pressures, including subdued consumer spending amid stretched disposable incomes, cost-push inflation, rising energy prices, and an unfavourable exchange rate environment, all of which continue to weigh heavily on household budgets.
9M financial scorecard revealed that Unilever Nigeria Plc’s earnings performance was bolstered by broad-based performance across segments, aided by improved macroeconomic indicators and pricing advantages.
In the nine month of financial year 2025, Unilever Nigeria operating profit grew by 200.7%, highlighting strong operational leverage and disciplined cost management.
The company’s total revenue printing at N155.4 billion, up by 49.7% year on year from N103.848 billion in the equivalent period in 2024.
Analysts at CardinalStone Securities Limited said the company’s Foods segment continued to anchor growth, expanding by 54.5% year on year and contributing 61.1% of total revenue, buoyed by sustained demand in the Food Seasoning market.
Meanwhile, the Beauty & Wellbeing segment outperformed, rising 113.6% year on year, while the Personal Care segment maintained steady growth of 26.7%.
Both segments contributed 10.7% and 28.3% to total revenue respectively. Despite a 50.0% year on year increase in cost of sales, driven by higher raw material costs and a restructuring cost of N251.0 million.
Unaudited financial released showed that costs of sales grew to N91.445 billion at the end of nine months of financial year 2025 from N60.995 billion in the equivalent period in 2024. Still, gross margin held largely steady at 41.2% versus 41.3% in 9M’24), underscoring efficient pricing and cost control measures.
Sales and administrative expenses for the period grew by a modest 15.1% year on year, driven by overhead costs of N14.4 billion and brand & marketing expenses of N12.1 billion.
In addition, the company reported an impairment write back on trade and other receivables of N834.9 million, a reversal of the N2.9 billion loss reported in 9M’24.
Consequently, the operating profit jumped by 200.7% year on year to N30.5 billion, lifting the earnings before interest and tax margin to 19.6% from 9.8% in 9M’24.
Below the line, the company benefited from 13.1% surge in finance income, driven by a 3.53x surge in interest on call deposits and bank accounts as exchange differences on bank balances declined following stability in the FX market.
The company’s finance costs declined materially by 75.9% to N710.4 million due to 81.3% year on year contraction in interest on third-party bank loans, while the effective tax rate settled at 41.2%, up from 21.1%.
Overall, Unilever Nigeria Plc’s profit after tax for the period came to N22.0 billion, up by 99.7%. The performance translates to a profit after-tax margin of 14.1%, a significant increase when compared with 10.6% reported in the comparable period in 2024
UNILEVER’S cash position also strengthened to N97.2 billion, buoyed by a turnaround in net cash flow from operating activities (CFO). Net CFO improved to N32.8 billion, as against negative N350.1 million in 9M’24, CardinalStone Securities Limited said in its review note Bank of America Profit Soars by 23.18% to $8.5bn in Q3
