India’s biggest paintmaker Asian Paints on Friday posted a net profit of Rs 218.45 crore for the quarter ending June. This was 66.7% lower when compared to Rs 655.44 crore declared in the same quarter previous year. Asian Paints’ revenue also faced a YoY slump of 43% from Rs 5,104.72 crore to Rs 2,922.66 crore.
Even the fall in net profit and revenue is huge, it is still better than what some of the market analysts projected. Some analyst expected the fall in net profit to be around 80%-90% due to complete shutdown, yet the last month of the quarter has seen an increase in number of projects.
| Q1 FY21 | Q4 FY20 | Q1 FY20 | QoQ | YoY | |
| Revenue (crore) | 2,922 | 4635 | 5,104 | -36.9% | -43% |
| Net Profits (crore) | 218 | 461 | 655.44 | -52.7% | -66.7% |
The nationwide lockdown imposed by the central government caused Asian Paints’ operations to shut down. Also, the demand for products faced a significant decrease during these months. The norms of social distancing and migration of labours to their villages acted as a coupling effect to reduce the company’s sales.
According to Managing Director & CEO Amit Syngle, “The other business segments in India, including the two industrial coatings business and both the segments in the home improvement category also witnessed improving trends in June, albeit at a lower pace.”
The month of June has offered some optimism to the officials. The volume growth in the last month of the quarter ended up in a double-digit. With a very low probability of nationwide lockdown, even as positive cases face a surge, Asian Paints is hopeful of improving business conditions in the coming months. With festival season ahead, Asian Paints will be looking to gain as much as possible to compensate for the loss in this quarter.
