Asian Paints profit declines 24.6% to Rs 1,186.79 cr in Q1

New Delhi: Asian Paints Ltd on Wednesday reported a 24.64 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,186.79 crore in the June quarter, hit by demand slowdown due to severe heatwave and general elections.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,574.84 crore in the same period last fiscal year, Asian Paints said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations in the first quarter of the current fiscal was down at Rs 8,969.73 crore as compared to Rs 9,182.31 crore in the year-ago period, it added.

Total expenses were higher at Rs 7,559.04 crore, up from 7,305.09 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

"Demand conditions for the paint industry were tough, impacted by the severe heatwave and general elections in the quarter," Asian Paints Ltd Managing Director & CEO Amit Syngle said.

Despite delivering a good volume growth of 7 per cent in the decorative segment, aided by some movement in rural markets, the company's value declined 3 per cent due to the price decrease taken earlier in the year and shift in product mix, he added.

Unanticipated material price inflation coupled with supply chain challenges impacted profitability of the decorative business for the quarter, Syngle said, adding that the industrial business did relatively better and grew 5.8 per cent by value on the back of good growth in the auto OEM and powder coatings segment.

On the international front, he said geographies like Ethiopia and Sri Lanka grew well in the first quarter because of gradual recovery in these economies. However, key macroeconomic issues persisted in markets like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Egypt, impacting the overall performance for international business.

On the outlook, Syngle said, "In the near term, we expect demand conditions to improve on the back of improving rural sentiment and monsoon picking up gradually. We remain focused on driving growth through enhanced saliency of our brand, innovation and customer centricity."