International Breweries’ share price rises on profit projection

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

The share price of International Breweries Plc rose maximally by five per cent last week after the company notified the investing public through the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that it expects its profit for the first quarter ending March 31, 2012 to grow to N423.4 million.

This is over 300 per cent increment over N7.43 million achieved in the equivalent period of 2010.
Investors swooped on the shares causing N0.28 increase on the stock’s price. It had opened the week at N5.60 and closed at N5.88 at the end of transactions on Friday, January 27, 2012.

A breakdown of the results submitted to the NSE shows that the company’s turnover for the period was put at N3.004 billion, a 26.3 per cent increase over N2.378 billion achieved in 2011.

According to the company, the operating cash flow before working capital would grow to N710.453 million; net cash generated from operating activities scheduled at N3.500billion, while cost of sales was also expected to rise to N1.7 billion..
Also, cash/bank balance at the beginning of the period was put at N60.00million while cash/bank balance at the end of the period was expected at N3.740billion.

Analysts at Proshare Limited however said using its believability index, there was a slim chance of the company delivering on the projected results judging by the previous performance.

According to the independent analytical company, “International Breweries has zero chance of achieving or exceeding its PAT forecast and -409 per cent chance of delivering on its turnover projections for the review period. The significant loss of N6.7 billion recorded in third quarter of 2011 following the loss of N92.63 million experienced in quarter two of 2011 had negative impact on this believability index considerably.”

“This weights fall within the ‘most believable’ forecast range for quoted companies in the sector,” it further stated.
Some investors in the company surprisingly flawed the projection, saying that the company hardly delivers on promises.

Incorporated in Nigeria in 1971, International Breweries commenced operations in December 1978 and converted into a public limited liability company in the 1994/95 financial year.

Over the years, due to poor maintenance and the absence of a steady power supply, production had progressively declined to less than 50,000 hectolitres and has increased to over 375,000 hectolitres in 2010.