Marico to pump in money to re-position brands abroad
FMCG player Marico is stepping up its focus on international markets, targeting higher revenue contribution from overseas. It is expanding into newer geographies and repositioning the acquired brands there. Mint’s Jharna Majumdar and CNBC-TV18’s Tanvi Shukla report.
Marico officials say International Business Group (IBG), which handles Marico’s operations overseas, is looking to invest 10-15% of its estimated sales for 2008-09 in repositioning its brand. This segment currently contributes around 18% to the total revenue of Marico but the officials are looking to up this to around 20-22% in the future.
This year, IBG’s revenue growth will be around 30%, which is lower than the 40% it had been clocking for the last three years. But company officials say that through new product launches and expansion into newer geographies, they would be able to make up.
In terms of new product launches, flavoured castor oil has been launched in South Africa under the Hercules brand. There is also reformulation of their other products for value addition. They are also repositioning their Parachute hair cream in Western Asia.
Marico had acquired Enaleni Pharmaceuticals’ consumer division in October 2007. It is now looking to extend the business of this division to Botswana and Angola.