Asian Paints shares decline over 3 pc after earnings

Shares of Asian Paints declined after the company's December quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.

New Delhi :Asian paints on Friday lost upto 2.28 percent to hit the days low of Rs 2802.50 as investors dumped the stock. Shares of Asian Paints declined after the company's December quarter earnings failed to cheer investors. The stock fell 2.64 per cent to Rs 2,868.05 apiece on the BSE. During the day, it declined 3.15 per cent to Rs 2,853.

It was the biggest laggard among the 30-share BSE Sensex pack of firms. On the NSE, it went lower by 3.11 per cent at Rs 2,853.40 per share. On Friday price lost upto 2.28 percent to hit the days low of Rs 2802.50 as investors dumped the stock. On Thursday, Asian Paints Ltd reported a 6.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,097.06 crore in the third quarter ended December 2022.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,031.29 crore in the same period last fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing. "Asian Paint's performance was miss on estimates with revenue and PAT growing by 1.3 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively with sales volume in decorative paints business remaining almost flat," Kaustubh Pawaskar, Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said.

Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 8,636.74 crore as against Rs 8,527.24 crore in the year-ago quarter, it added. Total expenses in the third quarter were at Rs 7,280.75 crore as compared to Rs 7,220.29 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said.

Asian Paints Managing Director & CEO Amit Syngle said the domestic decorative business of the company registered a flat volume and value sales delivery for the quarter, on a very high price increase base in the previous year.

"The extended monsoon in October also affected retailing in the peak festival season; but demand picked up in November and December leading to a double-digit growth for the decorative business in December," he added.

On the other hand, Syngle said the industrial business did well led by strong growth in the automobile original equipment and general industrial segments.

"The international business was a mixed bag with good growth in the Middle East and Africa while the South Asia market, especially Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, got severely impacted by the adverse forex and macro-economic conditions," he said. The home decor market continued its expansion foray but witnessed some slowdown in the bath and kitchen business this quarter, Syngle added. (PTI)