Mumbai, March 4: Marico Industries is considering a bonus issue. The company’s board will meet on March 15 to consider the proposal.

The board will also deliberate on a third interim dividend and an early redemption of 8 per cent redeemable preference shares, the company informed the stock exchanges.

The FMCG major, with an equity capital of Rs 29 crore, has around 66 per cent promoters’ holding at present. Institutional investors, comprising mutual funds, banks, financial institutions and foreign institutions, hold a 25.51 per cent stake. While 7.42 is in the hand of public, the remaining is shared by private corporate bodies and NRIs/OCBs.

Marico has been generous to its shareholders in the past. In April 2002, its board recommended a bonus in the ratio of 1:1. Subsequently, the company announced redeemable preference shares also in the ratio of 1:1.

In the third quarter of the current financial year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 13.67 crore, up from Rs 12.25 crore in the year-ago period. Total income of Marico in the quarter stood at Rs 218 crore against Rs 196 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Marico, set up by H. C. Mariwala in 1988, has brands like Parachute, Oil of Malabar, Revive, Medikar, Saffola, Sweekar and Sil in its portfolio.