Unilever Nigeria Plc, has reported a loss of N1.59 billion in 2020, 62.3 percent lower than the 2019 loss of N4.22 billion.

The last profit recorded in the company books was N10.6 billion in 2018. This is according to figures obtained from its unaudited account on the website of the Nigeria stock exchange.

The improved performance in 2020, as against 2019, was largely driven by a decline in borrowing, sales growth, and reduced cost of sales.

A breakdown of the figures show, the company aggressively reduced its borrowing by 72 percent to N223.2 million from N824.1 million in 2020.

Also, it grew its sales to N61.5 billion, up by 1.3 percent from N60.7 billion in 2019.

Cost of sales dropped 115 percent to N47.7 billion in 2020 compared to N3.5 billion in 2019.

During the lockdown, buying and selling activities were disrupted along the value chain as factories worked below capacity, while some stores or outlets were shut down.

Other reduction was a loss before tax which fell by 77.4 percent from to N1.956 billion.

The company recorded no finance cost as against the last three months of 2019 when it recorded a borrowing cost of N381 million.

However, earnings per share were 62.2 per cent lower at -N0.28 compared to the -N0.74 posted in the corresponding period of 2019.