For much of the last three years, Nigerian Breweries Plc’s financial reports looked like a paradox. Sales kept rising, yet profits were collapsing.
Between 2021 and 2025, the brewer’s revenue more than tripled, from N437.2 billion to N1.47 trillion. But what should have been a rewarding period for shareholders turned into one of the most punishing earnings reversals in the company’s recent history, as naira devaluation transformed foreign-currency obligations into a major drag on the balance sheet.
The 2025 financial statements reveal a recovery that is welcome news for shareholders, and, more importantly, a case study in why balance-sheet repair may be the real turnaround strategy for companies still grappling with exchange-rate shocks.
From the black into the red
In 2021, Nigerian Breweries was on relatively stable footing: revenue at N437.2 billion, profit before tax at N23.9 billion, profit after tax at N12.9 billion. Even in 2022, while margins tightened, the business stayed profitable.
Then 2023 changed the story. The company still generated N44 billion in operating profit that year, showing that the underlying business remained functional, but a N153.3 billion net FX loss overwhelmed those earnings, pushing Nigerian Breweries to a N145.2 billion pre-tax loss and a N106.3 billion net loss.
Nigerian Breweries: key profitability numbers (2021–2025)
All figures are in N billion
| Year | Revenue | Operating Profit/(Loss) | PBT | PAT |
| 2021 | 437.2 | 41.8 | 23.9 | 12.9 |
| 2022 | 550.5 | 52.6 | 18.1 | 13.9 |
| 2023 | 599.6 | 44.0 | (145.2) | (106.3) |
| 2024 | 1,084.4 | 69.9 | (183.0) | (145.0) |
| 2025 | 1,467.4 | 205.2 | 161.1 | 99.1 |
The following year 2024 was tougher still. Revenue jumped to N1.08 trillion and operating profit improved to N69.9 billion, yet the company reported a N183 billion pre-tax loss and a N145 billion net loss. The pattern made the real problem clear: Nigerian Breweries was not losing money because Nigerians stopped buying beer, malt, or soft drinks. It was losing money because naira devaluation had sharply inflated the cost of foreign-currency liabilities in a way that overwhelmed operating performance.
The comeback story
The last five-year trend is why many shareholders were eager to see what the 2025 statement had to offer. At the start of 2025, total group borrowings stood at N209.1 billion. During the year, the company raised N168.5 billion in fresh borrowings but repaid N317.9 billion, bringing total borrowings down to N59.7 billion by year-end, a roughly 71 percent reduction in twelve months.
Management attributed the turnaround to the 2024 rights issue, which was channelled into retiring foreign-currency debt and reducing exchange-rate exposure.
The numbers bear that out. At end of 2024, Nigerian Breweries’ net currency exposure stood at 29,042 euros, 1,278 pounds sterling, and 6,680 US dollars. By end-2025, those figures had narrowed to negative 1,748 euros, 35 pounds, and 5,356 dollars.
The euro reduction was especially significant given the scale of FX losses recorded the year before. Net finance charges fell 83 percent over the same period.
In summary, the company did not sell its way out of the red. It deleveraged its way out.
Why this recovery matters beyond one company
For many Nigerian manufacturers, the 2023 devaluation exposed a structural vulnerability that stable currency periods had made easy to ignore: heavy foreign-currency liabilities can quickly erase operating gains.
Nigerian Breweries’ experience shows that in such an environment, deleveraging can be more powerful than expansion.
That said, the company is not yet out of the woods. As Managing Director Thibaut Boidin has noted, Nigerian Breweries still faces the headwinds of government policy uncertainty and weakened consumer spending power.
Total borrowings remain at N59 billion, and retained earnings are still negative after two years of heavy losses, which means no dividends for 2025.
The Q1 2026 results suggest the recovery is holding. The company posted N55.95 billion in profit after tax for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, with net finance expense falling from N15.23 billion to N6.95 billion year-on-year, even amid reduced consumer spending and volatility tied to the Middle East crisis.
Management has indicated that dividend payments will resume once the business fully exits its recovery phase.
Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon
Ruth is a seasoned journalist and communications strategist with over a decade of experience telling impactful stories across environment, technology, entrepreneurship, business, and political economy.
At BusinessDay, she leads editorial partnerships and content initiatives that deepen public understanding and spark meaningful conversations on issues shaping Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape.
She holds an MSc in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a BSc in Mass Communication from Delta State University.
