UNILEVER Nigeria Plc has stopped production and sales of its home care brands in Nigeria.

The company disclosed this in its unaudited interim financial statements released on Friday, October 20, for the nine months that ended September 30, 2023,

The decision followed the company’s announcement on March 17, 2023, to exit the home care and skin cleansing category – OMO, Sunlight and Lux brands – in Nigeria.

“The production for home care category ceased in June 2023, and sales ceased in September 2023. The financial reporting is still being assessed and will be fully accounted for by year-end reporting.

“The production and sale for skin cleansing category has been extended to December 2023,” Unilever said.

In April, The ICIR reported that the company was “exiting the home care and skin cleansing categories to concentrate on higher growth opportunities.”

A fast-growing consumer goods (FMCG) firm, Unilever reported N1.09 billion profit after tax (PAT) loss in the third quarter (Q3) from N2.25 billion loss reported in Q3 2023.

The negative performance resulted from the company’s borrowing cost, which widened to N1.03 billion in Q3 2023 from N328.89 million in Q3 2022 on the heels of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) exchange rate unification.

The impact of the naira devaluation showed Unilever records a significant jump in revaluation loss of N6.297 billion in the quarter under review from N406.69 million in Q3 2022 and also posted a considerable restructuring cost of N3.27 billion compared to N519.69 million in Q3 2022.

According to Unilever, the revaluation loss arose from foreign currencies-denominated balances regarding trade loans. At the same time, the restructuring cost was raw and packaging materials written off due to the stoppage of production in the home care category and associated redundancy cost.

A further look at the nine-month interim report showed that the company reported a N389.30 million profit before tax (PBT); however, a corporate income tax obligation of N1.48 billion dragged the company’s bottom-line performance into the negative territory.

Inflation, foreign exchange and other macroeconomic challenges are taking a toll on business operating profit and performance.

The director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, said, “Nigeria’s exchange rate policy settings are stifling business activities, investment and growth, and amplifying macroeconomic risks.”

Obi of Onitsha resigns as Unilever’s chairman

The company also disclosed on Friday that it had considered and approved the resignation of the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Achebe, as a non-executive Director and Chairman of the Board, effective December 31, 2023.

Unilever said, “The Board of Directors wishes His Royal Majesty all the very best in his retirement and would like to express their sincere gratitude to him for his leadership and many valuable contributions he brought to the Board over the past two decades since his appointment in March 2003.

“His Royal Majesty’s replacement on the Board of Directors of Unilever Nigeria will be announced in due course.”