Marico declares interim dividends with a boost to finance income

Marico Bangladesh has recommended a 450 per cent interim cash dividend based on its financial performance in the three months to September this year.
The company's board of directors on Saturday made the decision at a meeting as they witnessed a 25 per cent year-on-year growth in profit to Tk 1.46 billion in the second quarter through September. The company follows the April-March calendar year.
Alongside higher revenue, Marico's profit growth was driven by higher finance income, said Md. Mahmudur Rahman, first assistant vice president of Prime Bank.
In the financial statement of the quarter, the company did not provide details as to how the finance income improved.

Mr. Rahman said the income might have been derived from fixed income securities, such as Treasury bonds and deposit schemes.
The interest rates of fixed deposit receipts (FDR) rose to more than 11 per cent in July-September this year from 8-9 per cent during the same period of the previous year.
"The rise in FDR rate and interest rates of government securities definitely boosted the finance income," Mr Rahman said, adding that management efficiency was another reason behind the overall profit growth.
The company probably was unable to expatriate dividends to foreign shareholders the year before. That fund might have been injected into fixed income securities, which ultimately brought in a higher finance income this year, said Mr Rahman.
The July-September quarter was challenging for all companies due to political turmoil and a change in the regime. Nevertheless, Marico experienced a steep growth in revenue during the period.
It has reported an 8 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue to Tk 4.04 billion in Q2.
Marico's net finance income jumped 903 per cent year-on-year to Tk 228.25 million in July-September this year.
It also experienced a 27 per cent growth in profit to Tk 3.19 billion in the six months to September, compared to the same period a year ago.
The factors that drove the profit growth in Q2 were also responsible for the growth in profit in April-September.
Meanwhile, the company's share price reached Tk 2492.7 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange on August 25. Since then the stock experienced ups and downs and closed at Tk 2,206.50 per share on Thursday.
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