BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Kansai Nerolac Paints reported a higher profit for the fifth straight quarter on Saturday, aided by sustained demand from decorative and industrial coatings.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Growing activity in India’s real estate sector has stoked demand for decorative home paints and benefited companies including Kansai Nerolac.
Prices of crude – which accounts for roughly one-third of paintmakers’ costs – have eased from their 2022-highs, but were still higher year-on-year during the January-March period.
The entry of Grasim Industries into the sector will intensify competition in an already crowded industry, dominated by market leader Asian Paints, analysts have said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Japan’s Kansai Paint Co-owned firm’s consolidated net profit rose about 24% year-on-year to 1.16 billion rupees ($13.9 million) in the quarter ended March.
Revenues at India’s third-largest paintmaker by market capitalisation rose over 2% to 17.69 billion rupees, while a rise in input costs helped total expenses tick 1.7% higher.
KEY QUOTES
“The demand for industrial coatings though good, moderated from previous quarter. Decorative once again recorded double digit volume growth,” said Managing Director Anuj Jain.
“Going forward, the forecast of a good monsoon should augur well for paint industry,” he added.
($1 = 83.3760 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)
