(Reuters) – India’s Pidilite Industries beat second-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday, helped by a slower rise in input costs.
Pidilite reported a consolidated net profit of 5.35 billion rupees ($63.7 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 18.8% from a year ago.
Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 5.29 billion rupees, as per estimates compiled by LSEG.
The adhesives and sealants maker, which has brands such as Fevicol and Dr. Fixit under its belt, reported a 5.2% rise in revenue to 32.35 billion rupees.
Total expenses rose 3.3% to 25.66 billion rupees with the cost of materials, which makes up more than half the expenses, rising 1.7%.
Prices of vinyl acetate monomer, a key raw material for adhesives, declined 11% during the quarter, Jefferies said in a pre-earnings note. That, combined with a 7% rise in net consolidated sales, pushed up its bottom line. Revenue in the consumer and bazaar segment, which accounts for almost 80% of Pidilite’s topline, grew 2.9%, while revenue from its business-to-business segment rose 14.3%. “Input prices remained benign, resulting in expansion of gross margin by 281 bps over the same quarter of the previous year,” the company said in a statement. Shares of Pidilite Industries closed 1.2% lower ahead of the results. ($1 = 84.0550 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
