The board of BUA Foods Plc presented its audited financials for the year ended December 31, 2021, showing robust growth in revenue and profit, following which a final dividend of N3.50 per share, from earnings per share of N4.24, up from the previous N1.97 per share. For that purpose, the register of shareholders will be closed between July 14 and 20, following which qualification date is July 13, 2022, while payment will be made electronically on August 4.

According to the result, revenue from sales rose by N140.412bn or 72.8% from N192.86bn in the 2020 full year to N333.272bn, a breakdown of which showed that sales of fortified sugar accounted for N129.837bn, more than double the N67.928bn; followed by income from non-fortified increased from N33.515bn to N79.156bn, up by N45.54bn or 135.88%. Sales of bakery flour jumped from N40.117bn to N64.401bn; just as sales of pasta rose to N54.401bn from N35.4bn; and bran sales from N3.813bn to N5.245bn; even as sales of molasses fell significantly from N12.085bn to N439.023m.

Cost of sales increased to N230.312bn from N129.287bn; administrative expense stood at N10.422bn from N4.013bn; selling and distribution expenses also jumped from N4.013bn to N10.135bn; led by cost of raw materials which increased from N101.247bn to N211.205bn; staff cost jumped to N2.992bn from N1.976bn; factory production overhead dropped to N13.077bn from N21.735bn; depreciation of property, plant and equipment soared to N7.39bn from N3.372bn. Haulage expense increased from N3.965bn to N9.845bn; other expenses also increased from N262.904m to N2.553bn.

Finance income for the period rose to N2.892bn from N30.999m; finance cost jumped from N3.599bn to N5.047bn; comprising interest expense on overdraft increased from N780.451m to N1.377bn; just as interest expense on borrowing rose marginally from N2.221bn to N2.98bn; and interest on lease liabilities increased to N689.027m from N598.444m. Net finance cost dropped from N3.568bn to N2.155bn. Profit before tax increased to N77.468bn from N47.249bn; tax charge rose to N7.7bn from N11.842bn; resulting in net profit of N69.768bn; better than the previous N35.406bn in the corresponding period of 2020 by 97.04%.