Cadbury Nigeria Plc has returned to profitability with a strong N5.97 billion profit after tax for the first quarter of 2025, marking a major turnaround from the N7.32 billion loss recorded in the same period of 2024.
This impressive recovery was supported by a 57 percent increase in revenue, which rose to N37.23 billion in Q1 2025, up from N23.70 billion in the first quarter of 2024. The company achieved this growth despite ongoing inflation and foreign exchange challenges in the Nigerian economy.
Details from Cadbury’s unaudited financial statements, recently submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, show that the company’s gross profit jumped by 143 percent to N12.15 billion from N4.99 billion in Q1 2024. Cadbury also reported N390.78 million in other income during the quarter, reversing a loss of N11.49 million reported in the same period last year.
Operating expenses increased moderately, with selling and distribution expenses rising to N2.26 billion compared to N1.48 billion in Q1 2024. However, the company managed to cut its administrative expenses to N597.85 million from N737.33 million. As a result, Cadbury’s operating profit rose sharply to N9.69 billion, up from N2.76 billion in the same quarter last year.
A major factor in Cadbury’s recovery was the significant drop in finance costs. In the first quarter of 2024, the company had recorded a net finance cost of N13.22 billion, mainly due to borrowing costs and foreign exchange losses. This figure was reduced to N1.14 billion in Q1 2025, greatly improving the bottom line.
With this improvement, Cadbury posted a pre-tax profit of N8.54 billion, compared to a pre-tax loss of N10.46 billion in Q1 2024. After paying an income tax of N2.56 billion, the company closed the quarter with a net profit of N5.97 billion.
The company’s earnings per share (EPS) also improved significantly, rising to 262 kobo in Q1 2025. This is a sharp recovery from a loss per share of 321 kobo in the same period of 2024.
On the balance sheet, Cadbury’s total assets increased to N84.33 billion as of March 2025, from N72.44 billion in December 2024. The rise was supported by a surge in inventory levels, which nearly tripled to N32.66 billion from N13.81 billion. This may suggest that the company is preparing to meet higher market demand by boosting production and stock levels.
However, the company’s cash and cash equivalents declined to N6.25 billion from N16.34 billion at the end of 2024, possibly due to operational expenses or debt repayments. Still, this did not significantly affect the company’s positive performance.
Cadbury also reduced its retained losses from N37.30 billion to N31.32 billion, indicating a gradual path to restoring shareholder value.
In a related development, had earlier reported that Cadbury Nigeria closed 2024 with a full-year loss after tax of N10.4 billion, which was still an improvement from the N19.1 billion loss in 2023. The recovery was largely driven by a 47 percent reduction in pre-tax loss, from N28.2 billion in 2023 to N14.9 billion in 2024.
Cadbury’s recent Q1 performance shows that the company is on a recovery path, benefiting from strong revenue growth, better cost control, and reduced exposure to finance costs. If this trend continues, it could restore investor confidence and improve returns to shareholders.
