India's Kansai Nerolac reports higher profit for fifth straight quarter

Berger Paints India

04/05/2024 14:11

BENGALURU, May 4 (Reuters) - India's Kansai Nerolac
Paints  KANE.NS  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  GRAS.NS  into the sector
will intensify competition in an already crowded industry,
dominated by market leader Asian Paints  ASPN.NS , analysts have
said.  
    
    BY THE NUMBERS 
  
    Japan's Kansai Paint Co  4613.T -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)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))