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Nigerian Breweries, the country’s largest beer company, has reported 2017 first quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ estimates. The company said revenue rose 17.7 per cent to N91.29 billion in Q1 2017 as against N77.55 billion posted in a similar period of last year.

The revenue growth was driven mainly by the increase in prices of beer products implemented last year.

Besides its strong top-line growth, Nigerian Breweries said after-tax profit rose 9.3 per cent to N11.45 billion compared with N10.45 billion in the first quarter of 2015.

The bottom-line growth was, however, moderated by a 25 per cent rise in the cost of goods sold owing to higher input costs.

The beverage manufacturer’s revenue and profit were higher than analysts’ estimates of N88.1 billion and N8.6 billion, respectively, according to CardinalStone Partners, a Lagos-based investment advisory firm.

During the period under review, Nigerian Breweries’ cash position rose to N3.31 billion compared with a negative cash flow of N7.97 billion in the same quarter of last year. The company’s cash flow was strengthened by an increased cash generated from operating activities.

“The 2017 operating environment however remains challenging. The Board is confident that the company is in a good position to make the necessary adjustments to cope with the difficult operating environment,” Nigerian Breweries noted in a statement signed by Uaboi Agbebaku, the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser.

Nigerian Breweries said basic earnings per share rose to N1.44 per share as against N1.32 per share in Q1’16.

The company’s stock rose 0.81 per cent to N124 per share at the Lagos bourse on Friday.