BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Indigo Paints on Thursday reported a second-quarter profit that more than doubled, as price hikes helped offset increasing costs of raw materials.
Net profit jumped 173.8% to 370.9 million Indian rupees ($4.47 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, from 135.5 million rupees a year earlier, the Pune-based company said in an exchange filing.
Larger rivals Asian Paints and Kansai Nerolac Paints have missed profit expectations for the latest reported quarter due to a longer-than-usual rainy season, while their margins took a hit from higher commodity prices.
The company “clocked a strong growth in revenue with a sharp uptick in profit metrics despite the extended monsoon season” the Sequoia Capital-backed paint maker said in a statement.
Cost of raw materials climbed 20.3% to 1.46 billion rupees in the quarter, pushing total expenses up 20.4%.
Revenue from operations rose 23.7% to 2.43 billion rupees.
Shares of Indigo Paints have lost around half their value since listing in February last year, vastly underperforming peers during the same period.
($1 = 82.9050 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
