Again, Nigerian Breweries Increases Price Of Products

Nigerian Breweries (NB), citing ongoing high operational and input costs, has raised the prices of its products after informing its direct customers in the West Zone about an upcoming price adjustment across its entire product range.

In a letter dated November 19, 2025, and signed by Lucky Oiwoh, Zonal Business Manager – West, the brewer of Star Lager, Gulder Lager, Budweiser, and malt drinks informed distributors that prices would go up starting Tuesday, November 25, 2025. The decision was attributed to persistently high operational and input costs, with Q3 earnings revealing that raw materials and consumables had driven the cost of sales up by 12.83 per cent to N204 billion.

Operating expenses climbed this quarter, with selling and costs rising 37.41 per cent to N63.1 billion, while administrative expenses jumped 120.24 per cent to N30.8 billion. These spikes reduced operating profit to N11.2 billion, but that’s still a solid rebound from the N9.09 billion operating loss posted in Q3 2024.

“As we continue to navigate the current economic landscape together, we want to inform you about an upcoming price adjustment. Due to sustained high operational and input costs, we will be implementing a price increase for select SKUs, effective Tuesday, November 25th, 2025”, stated Oiwoh.

To make the transition smoother, Nigerian Breweries assured partners it will maintain current prices for all fully funded and confirmed orders entered into its system before midnight on November 25, 2025.

The brewer stressed that the decision was made thoughtfully and expressed regret for any trouble caused, while reaffirming its dedication to supporting distributors during tough economic times.

Distributors are encouraged to reach out to their Regional Business Managers for any clarification or support about the new pricing structure which took effect on Tuesday 25 November from Nigerian Breweries Plc, who also make popular brands including Heineken, Goldberg, and Maltina.

The latest update highlights a trend seen across the beverage industry, echoing the series of price changes rolled out by major brewers in 2024.

That year, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc, and International Breweries Plc released several letters and public notices about price increases caused by inflation, foreign exchange swings, and rising production costs. These moves helped push the sector’s revenue up by 71.8 percent to ₦1.9 trillion.

In 2024, Nigerian Breweries, a subsidiary of Heineken, made several changes and introduced at least three price hikes within the first four months—February, March, and April—affecting brands like Star, Heineken, and Gulder.

Guinness Nigeria, during its transition to new ownership under Tolaram, announced price increases on March 13 and again on November 11, affecting key products like Guinness Smooth and Malta Guinness. Meanwhile, International Breweries Plc, the AB InBev subsidiary, carried out at least three price hikes in the first half of the year, including a confirmed June 1 adjustment for Trophy and malt beverages.

Brewing companies, like many others, are slowly recovering after a long storm that battered the industry’s corporate giants. Following years of losses and diminished equity capital, brewers are now racing back toward profitability in 2025.

The mix of internal and external factors that drove losses to record highs in 2024 has eased, with cost and income structures quickly shifting to finally make room for long-sought profits for brewers.

While consumers have begun returning to their favorite spots after years of limited spending, stubbornly high prices on essentials have once again curbed appetites, making people more cautious about indulging in brewed products.

After years of stagnating sales, Nigerian Breweries turned a new page in 2023, posting a remarkable 79 percent growth last year that propelled the company into the trillion-naira turnover league for the first time.

Nigerian Breweries has maintained strong sales growth for the second consecutive year in 2025, with net sales climbing by N156.5 billion, or 69 percent year-on-year, to reach N383.6 billion in the first quarter.

Faced with pressing challenges, Nigerian Breweries revamped its financial strategy by clearing foreign debts that caused exchange losses and settling local loans with high interest rates. These moves have effectively stopped the surge of foreign exchange losses, which had soared to N337 billion over the three years leading up to 2024.

A sharp decline in net foreign exchange losses, from almost N73 billion in the same quarter last year to just N178 million in the first quarter ending March 2025, has helped the company swing back to profitability.

The debt restructuring move has helped cut down the strain of finance costs on the company’s revenue. After soaring by 173.5 per cent to N252.8 billion at the end of 2024, net finance expenses have now dropped sharply—from N90.8 billion in the first quarter of last year to just N15.3 billion by the end of the first quarter in March 2025.

Thanks to reduced production and operating costs, Nigerian Breweries has bounced back from two years of heavy losses that eroded its capital base, posting an after-tax profit of N44.6 billion for shareholders at the close of the first quarter—the company’s first quarterly profit in nearly three years.

As part of the initiative, a rights issue injected fresh capital, helping to cut the retained deficit and boost shareholders’ funds to drive the recovery phase.

This paid off in the third, with turnover jumping 33.38 per cent to N308.2 billion, thanks to strong sales of its brewed products, which boosted net revenue to N1.04 trillion in the first nine months of 2025, up from N710.8 billion in the same period of 2024.

(Inside Business Online)