India's Marico says urban consumption revival to take six months
Indian consumer goods maker Marico expects urban consumption will take at least six months to revive, its managing director told Reuters, signaling more pain for the sector from food inflation which has hit a 15-month high. With a market cap of $9.12 billion, Marico is best known for its iconic coconut oil brand "Parachute" and edible oil brand "Saffola", and competes with the likes of Hindustan Unilever and Nestle. India's annual inflation for food items, which account for nearly half of the consumption basket, hit a 15-month high of 10.87% in October, and retail inflation surged to a 14-month high in the same month, driven by a jump in vegetable prices and dashing hopes of an interest rate cut by the central bank next month.