Unilever Nigeria Plc recorded a 20.1% increase in profit after tax to N26.40 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared with N21.98 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
The consumer goods company’s financial statements showed that revenue increased by 18.4% to N184.01 billion from N155.41 billion, representing an additional N28.60 billion in sales during the period.
Gross profit rose by 33.6% to N85.46 billion from N63.97 billion as revenue growth outpaced the increase in the cost of sales.
Cost of sales increased by 7.8% to N98.54 billion from N91.45 billion, helping the company improve its gross profit margin to 46.4% from 41.2% a year earlier.
However, higher operating expenses moderated the improvement in earnings.
Marketing and administrative expenses increased by 36.6% to N40.30 billion from N29.51 billion, while selling and distribution expenses rose by 44.1% to N7.31 billion from N5.07 billion.
Despite these increases, operating profit climbed by 26.5% to N38.54 billion from N30.46 billion, reflecting stronger profitability from the company’s operations.
Unilever Nigeria also recorded finance income of N9.17 billion, up from N7.66 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
Finance costs, however, increased to N2.13 billion from N710.40 million, limiting the growth in net finance income to N7.03 billion from N6.95 billion.
Profit before tax increased by 21.8% to N45.58 billion from N37.41 billion, supported by higher operating earnings and positive net finance income.
The company’s tax expense rose to N19.17 billion from N15.43 billion, representing an increase of 24.3%.
Following the higher tax charge, profit after tax settled at N26.40 billion, compared with N21.98 billion in the previous year.
Basic and diluted earnings per share improved to N4.60 from N3.83, indicating the increase in earnings attributable to shareholders.
The results indicate that Unilever Nigeria benefited from stronger sales and improved gross margins during the nine-month period, although rising marketing, administrative and distribution expenses absorbed part of the gains.
The company’s ability to maintain revenue growth while managing operating expenses will remain important to its profitability in the final quarter of 2026.