Beta Glass 9M profit drops 6% to ₦37.6bn as finance costs, FX losses bite
Beta Glass Plc's nine-month pre-tax profit fell 6.39% to ₦37.64 billion despite revenue rising 4.98% to ₦120.08 billion, as a 44.69% surge in finance costs to ₦8.93 billion and a ₦1.24 billion foreign exchange loss erased operating gains. The NGX filing shows interest expense nearly doubled to ₦8.85 billion — including ₦8.57 billion on term loans — while finance income grew only 14.26% to ₦8.56 billion, driven largely by ₦8.23 billion from related-party borrowings.
The third quarter tells a different story: pre-tax profit rebounded 3.5% to ₦13.16 billion on 11.67% revenue growth to ₦40.37 billion, with gross margin widening to 37.61% from 34.61%. This marks the first quarter in 2026 with year-on-year after-tax profit growth, following declines of 21.48% in Q1 and 4% in Q2. Export revenue jumped 65.2% to ₦7.23 billion (now 6% of total), though Nigerian Bottling Company still accounts for 24% of sales at ₦28.80 billion.
The balance sheet strengthened — net debt dropped to ₦15.15 billion with cash up 27.41% to ₦25.14 billion — but operating cash flow fell 29% to ₦22.38 billion as inventories (+36.27% to ₦31.51bn) and receivables (+17.94% to ₦85.17bn) piled up. A ₦48.38 billion loan to parent company Packaging Industries Nigeria Ltd sits in related-party receivables. The board declared a ₦7.20 per share dividend (₦4.32 billion total).
With high interest rates and currency volatility persisting, can Beta Glass sustain Q3's margin recovery through year-end, or will finance costs keep eating into operating improvements?