NIGERIA – Nestle Nigeria has announced the appointment of Wassim Elhussein as the new Managing Director of the company with effect from September 1, 2020.

According to the company’s issued statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Elhussein is the current country manager and sales director of Nestle Middle East and North Africa.

He joined Nestlé Kuwait in 2002 as channel category sales development (CCSD) manager for coffee & creamers.  In 2015, he moved to Nestlé Middle East to lead the CCSD Unit.  

He was later appointed sales director of Nestlé Middle East in 2016, where he positively contributed to the business from a functional and leadership perspective.

He also played an integral role in the creation of the new Middle East and North Africa region, comprising 16 countries, before his role was expanded to country manager and sales director in 2020.  

Mr Elhussein will be taking over from Mauricio Alarcon who has been appointed as the Market Head of Nestlé Central and West Africa Region comprising 25 countries with head office in Ghana effective September 1, 2020.

However, Alacron will remain on the board of Nestlé Nigeria Plc as a non-executive director.  

“The Board expresses its appreciation of Alarcon’s outstanding achievements in all ramifications since he was appointed as the Managing Director of the Company in October 2016 and is pleased that the Company will continue to benefit from his experience,” stated the company.

The Food and beverage giant, reported a 8.7% drop in profit in its first quarter (Q1) period ended March 31, 2020, due to increase in administrative and distribution expenses.

The company’s revenue during the period under review decrease by 0.9% to N70.33 billion (US$180m), against N70.97 billion (US$181m) attained in the corresponding period in 2019.

Cost of sales for the first quarter was N38.67 billion (US$99.15m), as against N39.50 billion (US$101.2m) that was recorded for in 2019. This represents a 2.1%.

However, gross profit for the period showed a slight improvement with a 0.6% increase to N31.66 billion (US$81.1m) from N31.47 billion (US$80.6m).

Profit before tax was N17.45 billion (US$44.7m) as against N19.12 billion (US$49m) that was achieved for the same period in 2019. This shows an 8.7% decline; while profit after tax is about N11.20 billion (US$28.7m), a 12.84% decline against N12.85 billion (US$32.9m) that was achieved for Q1 2019.

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