Asian Paints Pat Up 8% To Rs 115 Crore

Asian Paints has recorded net sales of Rs 1316.01 crore for the year ended March 2002, up 9.1 per cent from Rs 1205.74 crore clocked in the previous year.

Profit after tax for the year ended March 2002 was up 8.4 per cent to Rs 115.32 crore against Rs 106.39 crore in the previous year. The net profit has been computed after making a provision of Rs 6.29 crore towards deferred taxation as per the new accounting norms.

Other income witnessed a 67 per cent jump to Rs 15.55 crore compared with Rs 9.26 crore for the previous year.

Interest costs were lower by 34.09 per cent to Rs 14.58 crore as against an interest cost of Rs 22.12 crore previously.

Depreciation was also higher at Rs 41.78 crore compared with Rs 31.58 crore in the previous year.

The board of directors have recommended a final dividend of Rs 5.5 per share ( 55 per cent) taking the total dividend for the year to Rs 9 a share ( 90 per cent).

The paint sales of the company recorded a volume growth of 9.6 per cent. The decorative paints account for 90 per cent of the company's net sales while industrial coatings account for 3 per cent. In decorative coatings, all products have witnessed growth with exterior finishes recording the highest growth of about 25 per cent.

During the year, the company continued with its strategy of launching new products and launched ' Tractor Emulsion' an economy emulsion paint. The company has also launched another high end exterior finish ' Asian Paints Elastomeric Hi-Stretch exterior paint' in select markets.