Nigeria's equities market is deepening its 2026 rally, and a brewing giant is leading from the front. Nigerian Breweries Plc surged over 9% in Tuesday's session, emerging as one of the NGX's standout movers on a day that confirmed the broader market is still firmly in bullish territory. The Nigerian Stock Exchange closed Tuesday, May 12, 2026, with a total market capitalisation of ₦161.6 trillion, equivalent to approximately $118 billion, as 133 equities participated in trading, ending with 43 gainers against 32 losers.
Nigerian Breweries' share price rose to ₦82.60, gaining 2.10% on the day, with its one-month change reaching 17.16%, a figure that underscores the sustained investor appetite for the stock. Over the past year, NB has climbed 60.39%, and its market capitalisation has grown to ₦2.56 trillion.
The Q1 2026 earnings release is the catalyst fuelling renewed buying interest. Nigerian Breweries posted a net profit of ₦55.9 billion in Q1 2026, a 26% increase compared to Q1 2025, representing more than half of the company's total 2025 full-year profit in just one quarter. A key factor in the recovery was the recording of zero foreign exchange losses in Q1 2026, allowing its operating profit of ₦87.4 billion to flow directly into a profit before tax of ₦80.4 billion.
The debt story is equally compelling. Finance costs have collapsed from ₦257.1 billion in 2024 to ₦45.9 billion in 2025, and further to ₦8 billion in Q1 2026, as the company aggressively reduced total borrowings from ₦341.6 billion in 2023 to ₦56.1 billion by Q1 2026.
The turnaround puts into sharp relief just how damaging the naira crisis of 2023 and 2024 was for the brewer. Nigerian Breweries suffered ₦153.3 billion in FX losses in 2023 and a staggering ₦257.1 billion in 2024 losses that stripped earnings bare despite strong consumer demand for its brands, including Heineken, Star, Gulder, Goldberg, and Maltina.
The stock has gained 13.55% year-to-date in 2026 and trades around 24x trailing earnings, a multiple that reflects market optimism about sustained earnings expansion driven by premiumisation, product diversification, and the continued absence of foreign exchange volatility.
Managing Director Thibaut Boidin has described 2025 as a defining year, saying the company "outperformed on all key metrics," delivering close to ₦100 billion in net profit while moving from a negative cash position to a positive one. With Q1 2026 already exceeding half of that full-year figure, the market's verdict is clear: the recovery is real, and investors are pricing in more to come.
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