Marico’s sales drop, but profit rises 13%

Marico Bangladesh's profit soared in the third quarter of the current financial year despite a fall in sales.

The fast-moving consumer goods company said its sales declined nearly 6 percent year-on-year to Tk 337.75 crore in the October-December period of 2023-24.

However, a 20 percent fall in the cost of raw materials and a jump in the finance income enabled the company to post a 13 percent higher profit in the quarter, according to a disclosure by the company published in newspaper on Friday.

The company recorded Tk 110 crore in net profit in the October-December period of 2023, down from Tk 97.43 crore in the same period of the previous year.

Marico's finance income surged 231 percent year-on-year to Tk 15.87 crore in three months to December of last year.

With the October-December earnings, Marico's total profit grew 21 percent year-on-year to Tk 359.8 crore in the first nine months of the current financial year ending in next March.

The publicly listed company's sales rose nearly 2 percent year-on-year to Tk 1,109 crore in the April-December period of 2023.

However, its cost of sales fell 12 percent and it could increase its finance income four times to Tk 37.75 crore in the first nine months to December 2023, according to the disclosure.

Marico's earnings per share stood at Tk 114.22 in the April-December period, up from Tk 94.45 in the same period a year ago.

Shares of Marico closed at Tk 2,580.50 on January 25 in the Dhaka Stock Exchange, losing 1.19 percent from the previous day.