Akzo Nobel gains as net profit rises to 88%

The company posted 87.85% jump in net profit at Rs 50.74 crore for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2014

Paints and coatings maker Akzo Nobel India has gained over 4% to Rs 1,512 on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) after reporting a 87.85% jump in net profit at Rs 50.74 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 helped by lower expenses.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 27.01 crore for the corresponding period previous fiscal, Akzo Nobel India said in a filing to BSE.

Net sales of the company stood at Rs 671.41 crore for the third quarter of this fiscal, up 4.26% as against Rs 643.93 crore for the same period ended December 31, 2013.

Akzo Nobel India Managing Director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy said: "Akzo Nobel India's improved business performance is led by both, a robust growth in sales of high-performance products as well as a continued focus on cost management, supplemented by soft input prices, especially the crude-linked ones."

The stock opened at Rs 1,534 and hit a high of Rs 1,559 on the BSE.  Till 1325 hours, a combined around 75,000 shares changed hands on the counter on BSE and NSE.