Int’l Breweries to Raise $458m Through ‘Rights Issue’

International Breweries Plc said it plans to raise N165bn ($457.7m) in a share sale as it seeks to pay down mountain debt and reverse losses.

According to a Friday report by Bloomberg, current shareholders of the company may get share offers in November if the company gets clearance from Nigerian regulators, the company said in an email presentation on Thursday.

The company’s losses hit N16.4bn in the nine months through the end of September, from N7bn in the previous year, primarily driven by high finance cost.

“Financing cost pressures will continue as we work towards closing out the rights issue by year-end,” the company said.

The company revealed that its revenue has been impacted by a new phased excise duty increase on alcohol (beer, wines and spirits) which came into effect in June 2018.

International Breweries Plc is the Nigerian unit of global brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev.

November 02, 2019