International Breweries Plc says it has returned to profit in the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, helped by the robust 47.63% growth in sales revenue for the period from N38.964bn to N57.521bn in the corresponding period of last year.

Cost of sales rose to N37.567bn from N32.478bn; lifted by materials consumed and allocated overheads of N29.813bn from N22.931bn; leaving a gross profit of N19.954bn, compared to N6.485bn in the prior first quarter.

Administrative, marketing, and promotion expenses grew to N12.106bn from N8.977bn; impairment charge on financial assets dropped from N217.761m to N34.18m; while other expenses soared to N4.114bn from N167.671m, of which unrealized net foreign exchange loss rose to N3.489bn, compared to the again of N81.137m; following which operating profit stood at N3.699bn from a loss of N2.877bn.

Finance income grew to N1.507bn from N17m; just as finance cost soared to N3.349bn from N684.385m; resulting in a net finance cost of N1.842bn, against the N684.468m reported in 2021.

Profit before tax stood at N1.856bn, from the previous loss of N3.561bn; while income tax of N1.135bn; compared to a credit of N982.948m; bringing net profit to N721.167m from a loss of N2.578bn; translating to earnings per share of three kobo, against the 10 kobo loss.