FMCG giant Marico, maker of hair oil brands such as Parachute and Nihar posted

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a 40 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 71.62 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared with the same period previous financial year. Marico’s consolidated net sales, during the quarter, increased by 24 per cent to Rs 747.35 crore.

Saugata Gupta, CEO- consumer products at Marico said, “Despite the challenge of all round inflation, FY11 has been satisfying with significant franchise expansion across all our key brands and laying strong foundations for an array of new product initiatives expected to blossom over the next couple of years.” Ajay Thakur, research analyst at Alchemy Share and Stock Brokers said, “The numbers are slightly disappointing on operational front due to hi­gh copra prices and change of revenue recognition of Kaya. The company is going to face cost pressure in the next three to six months.”

The company’s business registered an 11 per cent growth in volume terms for the quarter ended March 2011. Key contributors to the volume growth were: Parachute coconut oil (in rigid packs) which grew 10 per cent, Saffola oils growing 16 per cent and hair oils at 24 per cent. Marico’s international business grew by 19 per cent in volume terms. The skin care solutions business grew by 31 per cent in value terms to Rs 239 crore in fiscal 2010-2011 aided by the acquisition of Derma Rx, Singapore in May 2010. Kaya, sans Derma Rx posted a revenue growth of seven per cent and made a loss of Rs 2.3 crore even at PBT level.

Vijay Subramaniam, CEO, international business, “Despite business disruptions in certain geographies in the Middle East and north Africa region (MENA), the international business has turned in a healthy growth. We will now focus on adding depth in the geographies of our presence, namely Bangladesh, MENA, South Africa and South East Asia.” Revenue for MENA in FY11 was flat compared to FY10.