After Six Years Of Posting Losses, International Breweries Shareholders Meet To Raise Additional Capital

International Breweries Plc has approved the raising of emergency additional capital after posting losses since 2018.

After publishing its financials statement for 2023, the company shareholders called an extraordinary emergency meeting held on February 12, 2024, and approved capital raise through a right issue.

THE WHISTLER reported that International Breweries, makers of Trophy Lager, Hero Larger, Grand Malt, and Eagle Stout did not make a profit during the period from 2018 to 2023, thereby accumulating N156.07bn loss over the period.

An analysis showed that the company recorded full year loss of N3.93bn in 2018, N36.16bn in 2019; N 18.5bn in 2020; N16.42bn in 2021; N21.6bn in 2022 and in 2023, the company lost N59.46bn.

Aside from the nightmare imposed on the management by losses, the brewery is almost having liquidity challenge after its cash and cash equivalent dropped by N37.4bn from N66.8bn in 2022 to N29.4bn by the end of 2023.

The situation has mounted pressure on the company’s executive management led by Carlos Coutino who was appointed managing director in 2022 following the resignation of Hugo Rocha.

International Breweries has issued and fully paid capital of 26,862,069,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

In the new development, International Breweries shareholders authorized the company to “Raise additional equity capital by way of a rights issue to the existing shareholders of the Company on such terms and conditions (including but not limited to the amount of the Rights Issue, price of the Rights Issue, rights ratio, and number of shares to be provisionally allotted) as shall be determined by the Directors.”

A rights issue is one way for a cash-strapped company to raise capital for several projects. The shareholders also approved to discount the company’s shares from 50 kobo to 2 kobo.

The shareholders said, “That the nominal value of all the existing ordinary shares in the Company’s share capital be and is hereby sub-divided from fifty Kobo (N0.50) each to two Kobo (N0.02) each and all future ordinary shares in the Company’s share capital, including all new ordinary shares that are to be created pursuant to the increase of the Company’s share capital, shall have a nominal value of two Kobo (N0.02) each.”