Strong food business prospects likely to drive growth for Marico

Execution and competitive intensity remain key, say analysts

Shares of Marico, the maker of Parachute hair oil, have risen about 11 per cent in the last three months as compared to 4.5 per cent gain for the underlying BSE FMCG Index. High growth prospects from the scaling up of its food business, positive management commentary, and strong December quarter (Q3) performance have raised hopes of better-than-expected earnings growth, say analysts.

Marico has continued its push into the immunity and healthy foods segment, where it has launched several new products and entered into the mid-sized mass categories such as honey, chyawanprash, soya chunks, and noodles more recently. This has helped