Marico Q4 net dips 7%

[B. KARTHICK]

Beauty and wellness firm Marico's standalone net profit dipped 7.1 per
cent to Rs 25.51 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 2008 as it
adopted new accounting standards on depreciation this year. Its total
income for the quarter grew 10.7 per cent to Rs 373.59 crore. Post the
result announcement, its share price on the Bombay Stock Exchange
dipped marginally by 0.2 per cent to Rs 69.35.

The company's consolidated net profit grew to Rs 40.7 crore for the
quarter due to one-time gain of Rs 10.6 crore from the divestment of
its Sil business. Its consolidated operating profit for the quarter
grew 37 per cent year-on-year to Rs 44.69 per cent and total income
grew 16.6 per cent to Rs 471.23 crore.

Vinod Kamath, chief (finance and IT), said "In spite of volatile raw
material costs, we could deliver a healthy organic growth driven by
volumes. In the coming quarters we would focus on growing organically
in all our business divisions."

The company's raw material costs went up 24.3 per cent for the
quarter. For the year ended March 2008, Marico's revenues grew 22.4
per cent to Rs 1,907 crore during FY08. The growth comprised 17 per
cent organic growth accompanied by 5 per cent inorganic growth.