Nigeria’s consumer goods sector witnessed a strong nine months of 2025, as bumper earnings results from top manufacturers drove significant gains in their share prices on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).
This was driven by strong first-quarter earnings releases and positive investor sentiment towards Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, which have demonstrated resilient pricing power amid inflationary pressures. In the period under review, the index appreciated by 96.16 per cent, outperforming the benchmark index, which closed at 38.09 per cent year to date as of September 26, 2025.
The index’s impressive performance can be attributed to massive interest in key consumer goods stocks, including BUA Foods, Nigerian Breweries, Nestle Nigeria, and Cadbury Nigeria. These companies have recorded strong first-quarter and half-year corporate earnings, driving investor confidence and sentiment.
In the period under review, the NGX Insurance index grew 72.39 per cent, while the NGX Lotus II increased by 68.65 per cent. The NGX Pension index, NGX Premium index, NGX Industrial Goods, NGX Banking index, and NGX 30 index posted growth of 47.69 per cent, 41.29 per cent, 39.82 per cent, 39.14 per cent, and 35.88 per cent, respectively.
Recall that the consumer goods sector was among the worst hit by the foreign exchange crisis. By the end of 2022 and into early 2023, the crisis severely impacted company earnings and eroded shareholder value, causing many firms in the sector to report significant losses. The volatile exchange rate environment inflated costs and undermined profitability.
Data from the Exchange showed that several companies in the sector have recorded significant recoveries, returning to profitability for the first time since 2023. This turnaround is attributed mainly to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) strategic interventions to stabilise the naira and improve FX liquidity measures that have begun to reduce the cost pressures and currency-related losses that previously plagued the industry.
For instance, Cadbury Nigeria Plc returned to profitability in 2024 after suffering significant losses in the prior year. BUA Foods and Honeywell Flour Mills also defied FX-related headwinds to post strong earnings, showcasing operational resilience and renewed growth momentum.
Capital market operators believe the turnaround in the consumer goods sector is the result of a combination of macroeconomic reforms, FX market stability, and industry players’ operational efficiency.
They observed a re-rating of the consumer goods space by investors who previously avoided the sector due to FX-related volatility, as several companies in the industry have shown they can deliver strong results even in challenging conditions, which is reshaping market sentiment.
The vice president of Highcap Securities Limited, David Adnori, explained that the growth in the NGX Consumer Goods Index is accompanied by massive interest in BUA Foods, Nigerian Breweries, Nestle Nigeria, and Cadbury Nigeria, among other companies quoted in the index. He added that price-sensitive information in June 2025 may continue to play a critical role in the companies’ downward or upward movement on the Exchange.
The president of the New Dimension Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Patrick Ajudua observed a resurgence in investor interest in consumer-focused equities.
He attributed this trend to the relative stability of the naira, a significant reduction in the impact of FX losses, improved bottom-line performances, and the resumption of dividend payments, saying these positive developments have helped restore investor confidence in the sector.
Afrinvest Limited said, “We hold a mildly optimistic outlook for the Consumer Goods sector in H2. We expect the recent improvement in FX stability and reducing inflationary pressures to support an overall positive full-year 2025 bottom-line performance for industry players.”
In the first half (H1) of 2025, BUA Foods reported a 101 per cent year-on-year increase in profit before tax to N276.1 billion and a 36 per cent rise in revenue to N912.5 billion.
Nestlé Nigeria delivered a strong turnaround in its Q2 2025 financial results, posting a pretax profit of N37.2 billion, a sharp rebound from the N56.4 billion loss recorded in the same period last year. The recovery momentum extends across the half-year, with pretax profit reaching N88.3 billion, a remarkable comeback from the N252.5 billion loss reported in H1 2024.
