Nestle S.A. increases stake in Nigerian subsidiary with acquisition of 2.2m shares

Nestle S.A., the majority shareholder in Nestle Nigeria Plc, has increased its stake in the company.

According to a notice published on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Swiss multinational food and drink processing company purchased 2.2 million units of ordinary shares in four transactions.

A breakdown of the transactions shows that it purchased 1.98 million units on March 2, 2021, at N1,348.84 per share and another 186,277 at N1,349.74 per share on March 3.

On March 4, the company bought 50,000 units of shares at N1,350 per share and on March 5, bought 27,019 at N1,349.03 unit per share.

Before the transactions, the company held 527,080,970 units of the total shares issued by Nestle Nigeria which represents 66.5 percent of the total shares.

The company proposed a final dividend of N35.5 per share for the period ended December 31, 2020.

In its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020, Nestle Nigeria reported a total revenue of N 287.1 billion, a 1.1 percent increase compared to the N284.035 billion recorded in 2019.

Gross profit stood at N119.2 billion, down by seven percent from N 128.1billion in 2019 while an operating profit of N64.419billion was reported in 2020 against N72.062 billion in 2019.

The company also posted a profit before tax of N60.638 billion in 2020 as against N71.124billion in 2019 while profit after tax stood at N39.3billion in 2020 as against N45.683billion in 2019.