The Hindu Business Line : Asian Paints clocks marginal rise in net; to pay Rs 5 final

ASIAN Paints (India) has ended the fiscal gone by just a shade better than the previous year due to pressure on profit margins by high raw material prices. The company ended the year with a 2.9 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 147.8 crore against Rs 143.37 crore earlier.

An extraordinary item of Rs 6.8 crore in the fourth quarter (a provisioning for one of its subsidiaries) also impacted profitability.

"But for this item, net profit for the quarter would have gone up by 28 per cent,'' said a company official.

Net sales for the year increased by 10.6 per cent to Rs 1,742.46 crore (Rs 1,575.42 crore).

The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 5 per share taking the total dividend to Rs 8.5 per share.

Other income during the year rose to Rs 21.67 crore (Rs 12.59 crore) primarily because of interest received on Income-Tax refund.

In the fourth quarter, Asian Paints reported a net profit of Rs 30.5 crore (Rs 28.2 crore).

"The focus has been to grow the topline in our paints business. The industrial coatings business has performed extremely well,'' said a release quoting Mr Ashwin Dani, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director.

The Asian Paints group reported a net profit after minority interest of Rs 144.89 crore (Rs 138.05 crore). Net sales stood at Rs 2,263.72 crore (Rs 1,730.34 crore).