The Hindu Business Line : Growth across divisions boosts Asian Paints sales, profit

Mumbai, May 9 Growth across its decorative, industrial coatings and international business units powered the sales and profits of Asian Paints for the year ended March 31, 2008.

The decorative business, largest in its portfolio, did well on the back of good demand and the company’s strategy, said Mr Ashwin Dani, Asian Paints’ Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, in a note from the company.

The strong performance in industrial coatings was because of a good run by auto-refinishes, protective coatings and powder coatings business.

And the international business unit too registered an impressive profit growth, the note said.

Consolidated results

The consolidated performance of the subsidiaries and joint venture of Asian Paints clocked a net profit at Rs 94.5 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, from Rs 66.6 crore over the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

Sales and operating income had risen to Rs 1,133 crore from Rs 958.9 crore. The board of directors has recommended payment of final dividend of Rs 10.5 a share.

The company’s performance for the year was not comparable to that of its previous year, it told the Bombay Stock Exchange, as Asian PPG Industries Ltd, a joint venture of the company had acquired ‘2K Business’ from ICI Paints in March 2007. Financials for 2007-08 include profit and sales from ’2K Business’, the announcement said.

For the year ended March 31, 2008, the consolidated net profit of the Group had increased to Rs 409.2 crore from Rs 281 crore. Sales and operating income was Rs 4,404.3 crore (Rs 3,670 crore).

Standalone PERFORMANCE

For the quarter ended March 31, 2008, net profit on a standalone basis increased to Rs 84.8 crore from Rs 71.2 crore. Sales increased to Rs 868.5 crore (Rs 727 crore).

For the year ended March 31, 2008, net profit on a standalone basis increased to Rs 375.2 crore (Rs 272 crore). Sales and operating income increased to Rs 3,416.2 crore (from Rs 2,821.3 crore).

Asian Paints shares were down close to 2 per cent on the BSE at Rs 1,212 on Friday.