Egypt ops to see short-term impact this quarter: Marico

Recent political turmoil in Egypt has affected production of two Marico plants in the North African country.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Saugata Gupta, CEO - Consumer Products, Marico spoke on the impact of the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa on the company's business. Below is a verbatim transcript. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: How much has it impacted your production capacity utilization especially in Africa? A: If you really look at Egypt, Egypt contributed to 3% of our sales and the plants out plants out there were the supply chain hub for Middle East and North Africa (MENA). However, there was a temporary shutdown and a disruption in supply chain. I think things are getting back to normal, we are waiting and watching. Obviously they would have some short-term impact this quarter because of the disruptions in January. But things are more or less now on stream. But obviously we are watching as the situation unfolds in various countries. Our main areas in terms of sales is basically UAE, Saudi and Egypt and they are back on track. Q: There has been caution that the unrest is now spreading to other regions, we are hearing of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, this would be a large issue for FMCG companies that have operations there, how would it impact your own production and most importantly your sales further in the quarters to come? A: I think it is premature to comment as I said that there was a temporary disruption in both supply chain and sales in Egypt but that things are slowly getting back on track. So I think it is very difficult to say because the situation hasn