Beta Glass Plc, Nigeria’s largest glass manufacturer, plans to ramp up exports in a bid to earn foreign currency, boost revenue and sustain growing investor confidence.
The best performer on Nigeria’s bourse this year has seen its stock surge more than fivefold to N334, outpacing the 28 percent gain in Nigeria’s benchmark equities gauge over the same period. In the first half of this year, the stock delivered 414.56 percent returns to investors as confidence builds in the company’s fundamentals.
The company which produces glass containers and plastic crates for food, beverages and cosmetics industries plans to invest €17.5 million to expand capacity in Nigeria, its largest market, in a broader move to sustain its growth, Alex Gendis, chief executive officer of Beta Glass told BusinessDay.
Read also: Beta Glass doubles dividend as profit surges 112% in 2024
The firm is also looking at strengthening its exports to West and Central African countries to earn foreign exchange and cut dollar borrowing, the CEO added.
“Exports will represent around 10 percent of our sales within the next two years, with an upper limit of 15 percent” compared with 7 percent in 2024, Gendis said.
Beta Glass is maintaining its profitability streak in a country where top multinationals such as Nigerian Breweries Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc reported recurring losses between 2023 and 2024 after the federal government abolished fuel subsidies and relaxed exchange controls.
The sweeping market reforms spiked fuel prices, raised transportation costs and triggered a 70 percent plunge in the value of the naira against the dollar, making it expensive to import raw materials and to service dollar borrowing.
Despite the inflationary pressures, exchange-rate fluctuations and rising costs, Beta Glass revenue and profit climbed as the high demand for packaging products enabled it to pass on higher inputs and currency costs to the consumer.
Read also: Beta Glass eyes year-long profitability amid bullish investors’ sentiments
The firm’s revenue surged 87 percent to N117.6 billion in 2024 from a year earlier, while net profit more than doubled to N13.6 billion.
“Beta Glass sees strong demand from our core markets, and we project significant year-on-year growth and profitability,” Gendis said.
The glass maker aims to strengthen exports of pharmaceuticals and food packaging into nine countries including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Angola, Senegal, and Sierra Leone to meet its export targets.
