Marico Shares Fall As Civil Strife Engulfs Bangladesh

Shares of Marico Ltd. slipped over 4% on Tuesday as civil strife engulfed Bangladesh, a key market for the consumer goods company, which contributes 11% to its consolidated business.

Marico derives a substantial portion of its revenue from international operations, with Bangladesh alone contributing 44%. Marico Bangladesh Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, reported a revenue of Rs 1,103 crore in the last financial year, making up 11% of Marico's total revenue, according to its annual report.

The crisis in Bangladesh escalated after its Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country on Monday following violent clashes in Dhaka that resulted in over 100 deaths and plunged the nation into turmoil.

Adding to this, Marico's first-quarter net profit rose 8.7% year-on-year to Rs 474 crore, in line with analysts' estimates of Rs 461 crore, according to a Bloomberg consensus.

Share of Marico fell as much as 4.41% during the day to Rs 642.50 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 4.08% lower at Rs 644.75 apiece, compared to an 0.95% advance/decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 9:45 a.m.

The stock has risen 12.89% in the last 12 months and 17.78% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 5.2 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 46.58.

Twenty-nine out of the 42 analysts tracking Marico have a 'buy' rating on the stock, eight recommend a 'hold' and five suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside of 5.2%.