International Breweries Plc (IBPlc) reported a 12% growth in revenue for the nine months to the end of December 2017. Sales grew to ₦36.5bn from ₦32.7bn in the previous year.

Cost of sales rose 30% in the period to ₦22.86bn from ₦17.5bn, impacted by a 33% increase in net finance cost to ₦6.9bn. Administrative costs also weighed on the firm’s earnings, rising 117% to ₦4.5bn from ₦2bn in the preceding year.

The company recorded a pre-tax loss ₦3.1bn for the nine months to the end of December. But, with a deferred tax liability of ₦4.8bn, net profit grew 38% to ₦1.4bn.

International Breweries, which concluded a three-way merger with its sister companies (Intafact Beverages Limited  and Pabod Breweries Limited) in December, had announced earlier in September it would change its financial year-end to December of every year, instead of March of the following year. This was to align its financial year-end with that of its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev. In a statement released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the firm said that “the first application would be for a nine months period ending 31 December 2017.”