…Profits after tax surged to N8.01 billion in Q2-25 (Q2-24: N1.08 billion), helped by lower effective tax rate of 6.3% y/y (Q2-24: 43.8% y/y
TUE JULY 29 2025-theGBJournal| Unilever Nigeria Plc earnings per share (EPS) rose to N2.19 (H1-25 EPS: 2.51 and Q2-24: N0.19) in Q2-25 , driven by solid top-line growth of 61.8% y/y.
The foods and food ingredients manufacturing and marketing company, declared an interim dividend of N0.50 kobo for every ordinary share of 50 kobo each (Qualification date: Friday 8 August 2025), further supported by sustained growth in cash (+22.3%) to N83.70 billion from N68.44 billion
UNILEVER grew revenue by 61.8% y/y to N51.13 billion (H1-25: +53.5% y/y to N98.10 billion), due to significant price increases and moderate volume expansion across the Food Products (+64.5% y/y | 61.0% of revenue), Personal Care (+37.3% y/y | 28.3% of revenue) and Beauty & Wellbeing (+159.4% y/y | 10.8% of revenue) segments.
Notably, Q2-25 revenue performance still reflects price actions implemented between H2-24 and Q1-25, when compared to prices in Q2-24.
Hence, examining from a quarter-on-quarter perspective, revenue grew by 8.8%, reflecting lesser price hikes in Q2-25.
Domestic sales rose by 66.5% y/y to N50.64 billion (Q2-24: N30.42 billion), while exports tapered by 58.9% y/y to N482.90 million (Q2-24: N1.17 billion).
Riding on the strong topline performance, gross margin expanded by 525bps y/y in Q2-25 to 45.5% (Q2-24: 40.3%), amid slower growth in costs. UNILEVER’s cost of sales (+47.6% y/y) grew at a slower pace in Q2-25 compared to revenue growth (+61.8%) in the same period.
Thus, gross margin for H1-25 expanded by 191bps to 42.9% (H1-24: 41.0%), as cost-of-sales margin dampened to 57.1% from 59.0% in H1-24.
Accordingly operating margins improved, with EBITDA margin expanding by 21.15ppts y/y to 21.9% (compared to 0.7% in Q2-24), thus bringing H1-25 EBITDA margin to 20.6% (H1-24: 7.2%).
The OPEX margin decreased by 586bps y/y to 25.8% compared to 31.7% in Q2-24 due to UNILEVER’s strong topline performance and more favorable cost dynamics.
For context, cost-to-sales margin declined to 54.5% from 59.9% in Q1-25 (Q2-24: 59.7%), bringing H1-25 cost-to-sales margin to 57.1% (H1-24: 59.0%).
Net finance income in Q2-25 grew by 23.7% y/y to N2.86 billion from N2.31 billion in Q2-24, thus improving net finance income for H1-25 by 89.0% y/y to N5.34 billion (H1-24: 2.83 billion).
The observed growth was driven by a significant 464.4% y/y increase in interest received on call deposits and bank accounts to N2.54 billion from N445.58 million in Q2-24.
Given the relative currency stability in H1-25, exchange gains on FCY bank balances tapered to N624.55 million from N1.66 billion in Q2-24, bringing total exchange gains for H1-25 to N1.01 billion (H1-24: N3.29 billion).
On the other side, the absence of FCY liabilities kept finance costs at bay, declining by 250.1% y/y in Q2-25 to N311.43 million (Q2-24: N207.28 billion).
Ultimately, profit before tax surged by 596.6% y/y to N13.40 billion in Q2-25 (Q2-24: 42.0% y/y), bringing PBT for H1-25 to N24.15 billion (H1-24: N6.28 billion).
Consequently, profits after tax surged to N8.01 billion in Q2-25 (Q2-24: N1.08 billion), helped by lower effective tax rate of 6.3% y/y (Q2-24: 43.8% y/y).
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