Beta Glass Plc reported a 22.7% decline in profit for the nine months to the end of September. Profit dropped to ₦2.2bn blamed on a host of cost increases. This is despite reporting a revenue growth of 12% in the period to ₦14.9bn from ₦13.3bn in the previous year.

The glass bottle and metal crowns company said that the third quarter was particularly challenging for the firm with a 30% increase in cost of sales to ₦4.9bn from ₦3.8bn in the previous year. Selling and distribution expenses also grew 2,371% in Q3 to ₦26m while administrative expenses capped it off, rising 35% to ₦365m.

According to the company’s financials, the cost increases was driven by a net foreign exchange loss which had an adverse impact on net finance cost, driving it up by 94% in the nine months to ₦74m and 41% in the third quarter alone. The high finance costs in turn drove up input costs as well as selling and administrative expenses.