Marico Bangladesh’s profit hits Tk 265cr

Marico Bangladesh posted a net profit after tax of Tk 265 crore with its sales figure hitting Tk 980 crore and it handed Tk 327 crore to the national exchequer in taxes, VAT and duties in the last financial year.

Saugata Gupta, chairman of Marico Bangladesh, shared the information in the 20th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company, which was held through a digital platform on July 22.

The major agenda of the meeting were: adoption of the director's report and auditor's report along with the audited financials of 2019-20, declaration of final dividend for the year ended March 31, 2020, re-election and appointment of the directors and appointment of statutory auditors.

The company announced a final cash dividend of 200 per cent (equivalent to Tk 20 per share) at the meeting, the company said in a statement.

This was preceded by three interim cash dividend of 750 per cent, declared and paid by the company quarterly in this financial year, bringing the total cash dividend to 950 per cent for the year ended March 31, 2020.

During the period, the company's earnings per share stood at Tk 84.01, according to the statement.

During the year, the company continued its social responsibility initiatives focusing on economic empowerment to partner in the development of Bangladesh, the company said.

Towards this end, Marico continued its partnership with UNDP and the government of Bangladesh for graduating 65,000 ultra-poor women from poverty by engaging them in sustainable livelihoods through SWAPNO programme.

Additionally, to support the country in the fight against Covid-19, Marico also launched Mediker SafeLife hand-wash and hand-sanitisers.

And the company also committed to donate first six months' profit from the sale of these products to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

Managing Director of Marico Bangladesh Ashish Goupal together with the members of the board, Independent Directors Rokia Afzal Rahman, Masud Khan (chair of the audit committee), Ashraful Hadi and directors Sanjay Mishra and Vivek Karve also joined the AGM.

A large number of shareholders also attended the virtual event.