Champion Breweries appoints Malolan Sampath as new MD/CEO effective Sept 1 as Adoga resigns
Champion Breweries Plc announced Dr. Inalegwu Adoga's resignation as Managing Director and CEO, with Malolan Sampath appointed as successor effective September 1, 2026. The Board also appointed Executive Director Finance Rasheed Ademola Adebiyi as Acting MD pending Sampath's resumption, per a June 22 statement made available to NGX, shareholders and the public.
The leadership transition occurs amid mixed financial performance: Champion Breweries posted strong Q1 2026 revenue growth to N14.3 billion (up 70% from N8.4 billion year-on-year) driven by increased brewed product sales, but pre-tax profit plummeted to N839.2 million from N1.7 billion in Q1 2025 due to finance costs surging to N2.1 billion. Profit after tax stood at N881.4 million (down from N984.5 million) with earnings per share falling to 59 kobo from N1.10, despite retained earnings growing to N5.7 billion from N5.1 billion and total assets expanding to N132.4 billion from N82.3 billion.
Sampath brings over 26 years of international FMCG leadership, including beverage industry experience as Managing Director of Unique Beverages in Angola and Sales/Marketing Director for a PepsiCo bottling franchise. His recent roles include Managing Director of the NPK Joint Venture and CMO at Indorama Eleme Fertilizers in Nigeria, plus CEO of Global Industries Limited (Wilmar International JV in Zambia). The Board cites his expertise in manufacturing excellence, commercial execution and business transformation as key to supporting the company's strategic objectives.
As Champion Breweries seeks to sustain revenue growth while improving profitability, will Sampath's beverage sector expertise and FMCG leadership effectively address the margin pressures caused by rising finance costs while maintaining the company's revenue growth trajectory?