Heineken buys additional shares in Nigerian Breweries Plc

Nigerian Breweries Plc announced earlier today that one of its major shareholders — Heineken Brouwerigen B.V — has acquired additional shares in the Lagos-based company. This increases Heineken’s ownership in Nigeria’s number brewer by market share.

A press statement that was signed by the Company Secretary of Nigerian Breweries (Uaboi G. Agbebaku) as seen by Business Elites Africa on the NSE website, disclosed that Heineken Brouwerijen B.V acquired additional 233,110 units of shares.

The acquisition occurred last week during two separate transactions on the 2nd and 3rd of September, 2020.  A total of 166,470 unit of shares and 66,640 units of shares were acquired; making a total of 233,110 units.

Note that these additional units of shares were collectively valued at approximately N9.3 million. Each unit was acquired at an average price of N39.94.

About Nigerian Breweries Plc

Nigerian Breweries Plc is a Nigerian brewer which was incorporated in Nigeria back in 1946 and listed on the consumer goods index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on September 5th, 1973. For many years, the company has remained Nigeria’s number one brewer in terms of market share and profitability.

Note, however, that Nigerian Breweries’ latest earnings report for H1 2020 has shown that profit after tax declined by -58.03% to N5.6 billion, down from N13.3 billion recorded during the comparable period of 2019.

Whilst acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in influencing the its performance, Nigerian Breweries Plc also noted that “at this stage, it is not possible to determine the financial impact of COVID-19 on the Company given the lack of visibility on the end date of the pandemic and its impact on the Nigerian economy. The Company regularly monitors and evaluates its financial position and performance in the light of the pandemic and would report thereon as may be appropriate.”

The company’s stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange is currently trading at N40 per share, according to information obtained from Bloomberg.