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Nigerian Breweries has released its financial statement for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, showing that the beverage manufacturing giant’s after-tax profit fell 23.2 per cent to N20.1 billion, compared to N26.2 billion posted in a similar period of year earlier.

The decline in Nigerian Breweries’ profit has been attributed to surging finance costs relating to its commercial paper programme. The company said finance costs rose 95.3 per cent to N10.2 billion from N5.2 billion in the previous year.

Sales revenue rose to N222.7 billion, 3.6 per cent higher compared to N214.9 billion posted in 2015. Gross margins, however, declined to 43.7 per cent as foreign exchange pressures caused import costs to rise.

Nigerian Breweries’ profit and revenue fell below analysts’ estimates of N28.9 billion and N229.6 billion, respectively, according to CardinalStone Partners, a Lagos-based investment advisory firm.

Nigerian Breweries is the country’s largest beer company, controlling about 70 per cent share of the local beer market. Heineken, the Dutch beer giant, owns 54.29 per cent of Nigerian Breweries.

“In Nigeria volume increased low single digit. Underlying trading conditions remain difficult as the weaker macroeconomic environment and consumer sentiment continue to drive negative brand mix,” Jean-François van Boxmeer, Heineken’s Chairman/CEO, said in a third quarter trading update released on the company’s website on Wednesday.

“Although the Naira devaluation on 20 June 2016 initially provided some improvement in liquidity, the Naira has continued to weaken, which will have a further impact on margins.”

NB has declared an interim dividend of N1 per share despite basic earnings per share declining to N2.54 per share from N3.30 per share a year earlier. The company’s stock traded at N146 per share on Friday, down 0.34 per cent from the previous day’s close.