In case there was any doubt before now as to the capacity of PZ Cussons Plc to propose a juicy dividend at the end of the current year, the third quarter score-card has erased such, going by the numbers churned by the company for the nine-month ended February 28, 2022, released on Friday, even as there is need for the management to work more on its top-line for a more balanced score-card.

According to the result, revenue from sales improved by 24%, while profit after tax soared by 496%.

Specifically, revenue for the period stood at N74.539bn from N59.98bn; cost of sales also increased from N43.647bn to N57.218bn; resulting in gross profit of N17.321bn from N16.333bn. Sales and distribution expenses rose to N7.812bn from N6.9bn; impairment of trade receivables rose to N113.375m from N83.999m; administrative expenses chopped off N5.167bn, compared to the N5.421bn in prior nine-month; as exchange loss dropped slightly to N4.017bn, from N4.596bn. Operating profit stood at N210.9m from the N668.505m loss in the previous nine months.

Other income of N5.687bn significantly boosted the numbers, up from N2.089bn; being mainly the N5.503bn from net profit realized on disposal and impairment of fixed assets, up from N1.949bn. Interest income increased to N420.879m, up from N153.638m; while interest cost dropped from N69.369m to N7.485m; as net interest income jumped from N84.269m to N413.393m.

Profit before tax soared from N1.504bn to N6.312bn; tax expense increased from N488.306m to N671.12m; following which profit after tax rose to N5.641bn from N1.016bn, which resulted in earnings per share of N1.42, from 36 kobo in the corresponding period of last year.