May & Baker Nigeria Plc reported a 38% increase in total sales from N10.3 billion to N14.3 billion in the first nine months of 2023, despite obstacles driving manufacturing enterprises out of the nation.
Patrick Ajah, the company’s managing director, revealed this to the media at a luncheon. According to him, the revenue rise also amounts to a 111% accomplishment of the N12.9 billion budget.
In summary, Ajah stated that the PBT increased by 147% compared to the N1.1 billion budget, from N919 million in 2022 to N1.7 billion at the end of September 2023.
He claimed that the current administration’s floating of the naira had caused enormous losses, which had a significant negative influence on this outstanding accomplishment. Ajah stated that the anticipated Fx loss of more than N800 million, which he called “an avoidable economic disruption,” had an influence on the company’s reported PBT figure at the end of the third quarter, which was less than N1 billion.
Speaking about the details underlying the numbers, Ajah explained that the effect of operating and material expenses on earnings was the cause. In his opinion, the company’s cost of goods increased by 35% even though the price of raw materials decreased significantly after the COVID-19 disruptions.
“Because custom duties are denominated in USD, we have also seen a significant increase in the cost of power,” he said. Ajah pleaded with the government to step in because these policies are destroying the industrial sector, which ought to be the engine of the country.
As a result of the FX losses and high operating costs, he noted, several blue-chip corporations reported losses at the end of the third quarter.
However, since the end of Q3, our sales have significantly improved, and I am optimistic that we will be able to make up the losses and possibly even reach the planned PBT while exceeding the budget in revenues and generating great growth.
“It became imperative to put in place sensible cost-cutting measures to assist offset these growing expenses. In order to lessen the impact of the high cost of operation while increasing our staff size to meet the demands of our expanding business, we have managed to close our operating expenses and administrative costs at 14% and 21% below budget, respectively, at the end of September,” he said.
Speaking about new business development, Ajah stated that the company is investing in new product development across a wide range of therapeutic areas in addition to its efforts to promote organic growth.
According to him, the business plans to introduce a minimum of seven new items in the upcoming year, and there are numerous more in the works that are either in the registration or development stages.
“2024 will mark a pivotal year for our company as we introduce our new strategic strategy. However, I have hope that the drive and camaraderie I witness, along with our collaboration with partners and other relevant parties, will sustain the upward trajectory of our accomplishments over the next three years as we strive to realise our goal of becoming the premier healthcare brand in sub-Saharan Africa. By this time next year, maybe, we’ll have inspiring tales to share,” he remarked.
