As copra prices stablise, cost pressures likely to ease for Marico

Shares of Marico underperformed the S&P BSE FMCG index and the S&P BSE Sensex in the last six months as sentiment turned sour due to input cost pressure.
 
The cost pressure marred the December 2017 quarter (Q3) performance of the country’s largest hair oil company.
 
The price of copra, a key raw material accounting for 45-50 per cent of its total raw material costs, has increased sharply in the previous quarters. Due to deficient north-east monsoon rainfall, copra prices were up 91 per cent year on year (y-o-y), in Q3.
 
Marico’s consolidated gross profit margin (gross profit,