GSK Nigeria’s profit falls 32.15% amid COVID-19 pandemic

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has said its profit after tax dropped to N622.23 million in the financial year 2020 from N917.10 million in the previous year.

The company’s profit before tax fell to N1.00 billion last year from N1.17 billion in 2019, according to its financial statements obtained by Markets Reporters on Monday.

Its revenue, however, increased to N21.29 billion from N20.76 billion.

The company’s board recommended a dividend of N0.40k to be paid for the year to shareholders, representing 40k per ordinary share subject to the approval of shareholders.

It said the dividend would be payable on May 28, 2021.

GSK said the lockdown imposed by the Nigerian government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic last year and other movement restrictions impacted revenue growth activity.

“Limited availability of forex and increased cost of the same placed additional pressure on our inbound shipments for inventory replenishments and production materials,” it said.

The company said ancillary costs such as freight in the short term led to additional cost of production.

“GSK continues to support local and global efforts to tackle the virus while closely monitoring developments around this to enable us respond appropriately to potential risks,” it added.

The principal activities of the company are manufacturing, marketing and distribution of consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical products.