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PZ Cussons PLC on Wednesday reduced its dividend and lowered profit guidance after performance was hit by the devaluation of the Nigerian naira. The Manchester, England-based consumer goods company which owns brands such as Carex and Imperial Leather said revenue in the half-year ending December 2 fell 18% to £277.1 million from £336.9 million the year prior. The firm reported a pretax loss of £94.2 million, swinging from a pretax profit of £40.5 million the year before. Loss per share totalled 10.84 pence compared to earnings per share of 5.90p last year. PZ Cussons booked a foreign exchange loss of £88.2 million in the period relating to the devaluation of the naira which it said had a ‘significant impact’ on its financial results. It pointed out the naira fell by 51% between May 31 2023 and December 2 and that the devaluation accounted for £52.9 million of the revenue decline. As a result, the company cut the dividend by 44% to 1.50p from 2.67p, believing it would not be ‘prudent’ to make an unchanged payout. The company said the naira has fallen more than 30% since the end of the half-year meaning full-year adjusted operating profit would be below previous guidance. It now expects full-year adjusted operating profit, at reported rates of exchange, to be in the range of £55-60 million compared to a range of £61.5-68.2 million given in September. On a constant currency basis, the financial performance was been more robust with adjusted operating profit growth of 17% and EPS growth of 9.0%. Like for like revenue grew 2.2% driven by price/mix improvements of 7.0% and a 4.8% decline in volume. Shares in PZ Cussons slumped 14% to 110.40 pence in London on Wednesday. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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