Amid challenges forcing manufacturing companies to exit the country, May & Baker Nigeria Plc has recorded a 38 per cent grew its total revenue from N10.3 billion to N14.3 billion in the first nine months of 2023.

Managing Director of the company, Patrick Ajah, disclosed this during a media luncheon. He said the increase in revenue also represents 111 per cent achievement against the budget of N12.9 billion.

On the bottom line, Ajah said the PBT grew in comparison from N919 million in 2022 to N1.7 billion at the end of September 2023 representing a 147 per cent achievement against the budget of N1.1 billion.

He said this brilliant performance was, however, severely impacted by huge losses due to the floating of the naira by the present administration. Ajah said the company’s reported figure for PBT at the end of third quarter was less than N1 billion as a result of the impact of the projected Fx loss of more than N800 million, which he described as “an avoidable economic disruption.”

Speaking on the facts behind the figures, Ajah said it was due to the impact of the cost of goods and operational costs on the profits. According to him, the company’s cost of goods grew by 35 per cent despite a significant reduction in the cost of raw materials post-COVID-19 disruptions.

“We have also seen a significant increase in the cost of power and custom duties as they are denominated in USD,” he stated. Ajah appealed to the government to intervene as the manufacturing sector which should be the driver of the economy is being decimated by these policies.

He said the result is that a number of blue-chip companies declared losses at the end of the third quarter as a result of the Fx losses and high cost of operation.

“We have however made some significant improvements in our revenues since the end of Q3, and I am confident that we will be able to recover the losses and potentially meet the budgeted PBT, while exceeding the budget on revenues and delivering a strong growth over last year.

“It became necessary to implement reasonable cost saving initiatives to help mitigate against these rising costs. We have by so doing managed to close our operating expenses and administrative costs at 14 per cent and 21 per cent below budget respectively at the end of September, as a way of helping to reduce the impact of the high cost of operation while growing our staff strength to meet the requirements of our growing business,” he stated.

Speaking on the new business development, Ajah said in addition to the company’s efforts at driving organic growth, it is also making investments towards new product developments across a broad range of therapeutic areas.

He said the company is on track to launch at least seven new products next year with several more in the pipeline, at different stages of registration or development.

“2024 is going to be a significant year for our business as we launch our new strategic plan. I am however optimistic that with the motivation and team spirit I see and working with our partners and other stake holders we will continue the trajectory of achievements we have seen in the last three years as we work towards achieving our vision of being a leading healthcare brand in the sub-Saharan Africa. I am hopeful that by this time next year we will have positive stories to tell,” he said.